‘A Serious Man,’ the Goy’s Teeth and the Coenesque
“When we watch the films, we can be Larry — agonising over ‘feeling the question’ — or we can be Sussman, content not to know but still enjoying the experience.”
‘Colossal’ and the Monstrous Pettiness of the Male Ego
“Maybe she can finally make a life that’s actually hers.”
Cannes Film Festival Review: Roman Polanski’s ‘Based on a True Story’
“The title is, of course, a knowing joke. ‘Based on a True Story’ couldn’t be further from reality.”
‘Take Me’: Director-Actor Pat Healy and Editor Brian Scofield on Comedic Kinks and Cinematic Hijinks
Interview by Demi Kampakis
Cannes Film Festival Review: Noah Baumbach’s ‘The Meyerowitz Stories’
“Like a classic stand-up comedian, Baumbach is far more interested in observation than hot button provocation.”
Cannes Film Festival Review: John Cameron Mitchell’s ‘How to Talk to Girls at Parties’
“‘How to Talk to Girls at Parties’ is spirited but doesn’t have anything new to say.”
Vague Visages Is FilmStruck: Bill Arceneaux on Woody Allen’s ‘Bananas’
“Maybe the best way to counter ridiculousness is with ridiculousness.”
Review: Azazel Jacobs’ ‘The Lovers’
“According to Jacobs, romantic love is a negative equation wherein passion plus time equals complacency.”
The Joke Is on Us: Rick Alverson’s ‘The Comedy’
“Audiences aren’t meant to hate Swanson, but to understand him and people like him, along with ourselves.”
Vague Visages Is FilmStruck: Jeremy Carr on Jean Vigo’s ‘L’Atalante’
“‘L’Atalante’ is a movie defined by it moments, images and emotive strength, not its ostensible plot.”
Tribeca Film Festival Review: Guillaume Canet’s ‘Rock’n Roll’
“Canet’s performance seems to come from a place of real insecurity, and the resulting film plays out like an externalized catharsis.”
Delay in the Reflection: On Richard Kelly’s Definition of a Post 9/11 World in ‘Southland Tales’
“To catch the eye of ‘Southland Tales’ is to look back on our past and future simultaneously, on the limitations of our technology and the humanity that screeches through it.”
DIFF 2017 Review: Feng Xiaogang’s ‘I Am Not Madame Bovary’
“‘I Am Not Madame Bovary’ brilliantly executes its high-concept, formal experimentation perfectly. In doing so, it embodies a vision that harmonizes the theoretical with the actual.”
DIFF 2017 Review: Noël Wells’ ‘Mr. Roosevelt’
“Despite its over-moralizing and trite narrative, the film’s sweetness and Noël Wells’ promise make ‘Mr. Roosevelt’ a comedy worth spending 90 minutes with.”
Review: Onur Tukel’s ‘Catfight’
“What ‘Catfight’ lacks in sanity, it makes up for in the sheer exuberance of Sandra Oh and Anne Heche.”
Landscape of Awkwardness: On Maren Ade’s ‘Toni Erdmann’
“‘Toni Erdmann’ understands what’s at stake: not the private destiny of an individual, but her ongoing relationship to her era.”
Vague Visages Is FilmStruck: Jeremy Carr on Yasujirô Ozu’s ‘I Was Born, But…’
“If Ozu has taught us anything, it’s that life doesn’t get any easier. But life does go on.”
We Have Another Reptile on the Loose: ‘The Lair of the White Worm’
“Rare is the horror comedy that evokes laughter while also giving one the creeps.”
Review: Josh Appignanesi and Devorah Baum’s ‘The New Man’
“The director’s own forthrightness is, at once, both refreshing and perplexing.”
Mike Birbiglia’s ‘Don’t Think Twice’: The Anti-‘La La Land’
“Where Los Angeles offers an idyllic vision of dreamers, New York can’t help but set the stage for an all too depressing look at those left behind.”