‘The Bling Ring,’ Recontextualized in Post-Election America
“As the time between 2008, 2013 and 2016 grows comparatively smaller, the film will only loom larger.”
Vague Visages Is FilmStruck: Bill Arceneaux on Samuel Fuller’s ‘The Steel Helmet’
“Answers don’t come easy, but they do come if you’re looking for them.”
‘Colossal’ and the Monstrous Pettiness of the Male Ego
“Maybe she can finally make a life that’s actually hers.”
The Bottom Line: Q.V. Hough, Jeremy Carr, Bill Arceneaux and Peter Bell on ‘V for Vendetta’
Vague Visages Chat Transcript
Vague Visages Is FilmStruck: Jeremy Carr on Andrei Tarkovsky’s ‘Solaris’
“The film goes beyond strict and narrow generic classification and touches upon something universal, something profound about undying affection and the unreliability of reality.”
Netflix from 5 to 6: Daniel Barber’s ‘The Keeping Room’
“There’s no blaze of glory, but rather a collective maturation. Patience is their virtue.”
Devious Dialogues: Anya Stanley and Mike Thorn on Fox’s ‘The Exorcist’
A.M. Novak and Mike Thorn Discuss FOX’s ‘The Exorcist’!
It’s Real to Me: On Gia Coppola’s Understanding of the Teenage Experience in ‘Palo Alto’
“Instead of skipping to the binary found at the beginning and end of the color swatch, ‘Palo Alto’ flushes every color in the middle, every emotion found in growing up.”
The Limits of Freedom in Makoto Shinkai’s ‘Your Name’
“While lush animation and detailed backdrops make Shinkai’s films visually stunning, without character depth, it’s a beauty which rings hollow.”
Oak Cliff Film Festival Review: Dustin Guy Defa’s ‘Person to Person’
“‘Person to Person’ posits a world where forgiveness, kindness and neighborliness are actualized by a recognition of the innate goodness of humanity.”
Oak Cliff Film Festival Review: Alex Ross Perry’s ‘Golden Exits’
“In ‘Golden Exits,’ the miserable find company in the spaces they inhabit. Nothing is shared; nothing is collective.”
Open Roads: New Italian Cinema 2017 – Roberto Andò’s ‘The Confessions’
“Sleek visuals and cryptic dialogue aren’t enough to save a film that’s essentially a truncated season of ‘House of Cards.'”
Open Roads: New Italian Cinema 2017 – Edoardo De Angelis’ ‘Indivisible’
“‘Indivisible’ is a fantastically imaginative coming-of-age tale, an opera of sweeping creativity and a universal human love story.”
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.”
Cannes Film Festival Review: Sergei Loznitsa’s ‘A Gentle Creature’
“Sergei Loznitsa goes for absurdist satire, but, unfortunately, the joke’s on him.”
Cannes Film Festival Review: Ben and Joshua Safdie’s ‘Good Time’
“‘Good Time’ plays like little more than a direct-to-video thriller.”
Cannes Film Festival Review: Sofia Coppola’s ‘The Beguiled’
“‘The Beguiled’ plays out exactly as one might expect and never really stretches beyond its contained premise.”
Cannes Film Festival Review: Laurent Cantet’s ‘The Workshop’
“Like ‘Visages, villages’ and ‘Claire’s Camera,’ ‘The Workshop’ continues a Cannes 2017 trend for the unmatched power of creation and artistic expression, and this film reaches to darker depths than those tales.”
Cannes Film Festival Review: Kiyoshi Kurosawa’s ‘Before We Vanish’
“More than a stage play, the high concept and tonal spasms make ‘Before We Vanish’ feel like an adaptation of a cult manga.”
Cannes Film Festival Review: Kaouther Ben Hania’s ‘Beauty and the Dogs’
“The technical achievement here is considerable, though there is nothing that can match the surprise, and resultant thrill, of watching the opening scene play out.”