Man with the Camera: Brian De Palma’s ‘The Black Dahlia’
“‘The Black Dahlia’ shows De Palma in a reflective mood, considering the impact cinema, especially his own, has had on the lives and suffering of women on screen.”
Escape to Paradise: The Unusual Sweetness of ‘Carlito’s Way’
“What both Pacino and De Palma vividly convey throughout the film is that there’s absolutely nothing dubious or spurious about Carlito’s conviction in his ability to evolve.”
Why Criticism: Brian De Palma and Film as Film Criticism
“If the point of criticism is to bring the reader closer to the artwork, then Schrader’s reviews of other films are as important as his own to understanding his perspective.”
Gazing at ‘Red Sparrow’
“‘Red Sparrow’ is no feminist masterwork — far from it. However, in its depiction of a male world full of predators — a patriarchal system constructed to oppress, exploit and then discard women — perhaps it offers a valuable first step towards that badly needed change.”
You Gotta Act: The Wild Innocence of Melanie Griffith
“With her beauty– but more importantly, her natural ease and irresistible girlishness — Melanie Griffith presented a form of femininity ideally suited to a specific time of the late 1980s.”
Could Jordan Peele’s ‘Get Out’ Break Horror’s Dry Spell at the Oscars?
“Art is a product of its time; is it Get Out’s fault that the time mostly resembles a horror production?”
Critics in Conversation: Talking about Filmmakers and Talking with Them
Manuela Lazic and Adam Nayman on Conducting Interviews and Writing about Directors
‘Call Me by Your Name’: On Obsession, Growing Up and Falling in Love
An Essay by Ella Kemp
‘Fatal Attraction’ at 30
“Lyne does not believe in the ‘New Man.'”
Ebertfest 2016: Sound Some Opinions
Jacob Oller on His First Ebertfest
Rogue Sequel: In Defence of John Woo’s ‘Mission: Impossible II’
“Fully asserting the series reboot mantra, M:I II eschews the original’s ethos in favour of half a Hitchcock riff (a lot of Notorious, with a pinch of To Catch a Thief) and half traditional, near self-parodic Woo bombast.”