Spike Lee Visits David Byrne’s ‘American Utopia’
“The 68-year-old Byrne of today is less livewire, exposed-nerve, performance-art provocateur and more professorial elder statesman…”
Review: Jason Woliner’s ‘Borat Subsequent Moviefilm’
“A finely calibrated blend of lowbrow vulgarity and sharp social satire, ‘Borat Subsequent Moviefilm’ is a document — or mockument — of and for the moment.”
Collecting Movies with ‘Broken Bird’ Filmmaker Rachel Harrison Gordon
Greg Carlson Interviews ‘Broken Bird’ Flmmaker Rachel Harrison Gordon
Collecting Movies with Writer-Director Rachel Carey
Greg Carlson Interviews ‘Ask for Jane’ Director Rachel Carey About Movie Collecting
Don Hertzfeldt Expands the Universe Again in ‘World of Tomorrow’ Episode Three
“If Hertzfeldt’s ability to successfully expand on the emotional terrain and metaphysical considerations of previous chapters is a recipe, then he is an impeccable cinematic chef de cuisine.”
Review: Kirsten Johnson’s ‘Dick Johnson Is Dead’
“Johnson brilliantly arranges and organizes the vignettes that account for her unique ‘living obituary.'”
Miranda July Mints ‘Kajillionaire’
“Never weird for the sake of weird, July’s movies are perfectly prismatic, refracting facets of recognizable life experiences through the singularity and peculiarity of her vision.”
‘She Dies Tomorrow’: Amy Seimetz Contemplates the End
“Even though Seimetz’s ‘ideological contagion’ might have its roots in coping strategies for depression and a range of mental health issues, the director works wonders by imagining how one might react upon learning about their imminent death.”
‘I’m Thinking of Ending Things’: Charlie Kaufman Knows You Can’t Always Get What You Want
“Point of view and selfhood have assumed for Kaufman a place of great consequence from ‘Being John Malkovich’ to ‘Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind’ to ‘Anomalisa,’ and ‘I’m Thinking of Ending Things’ is a remarkable extension.”
Review: Arthur Jones’ ‘Feels Good Man’
“The manipulation of popular characters outside the control of original creators has existed for hundreds of years, but what makes ‘Feels Good Man’ especially significant is the entanglement with ‘fake news’ during the era of Trump…”
Collecting Movies with ‘Black Sunday’ Author Matt Dreiling
Greg Carlson Interviews ‘Black Sunday’ Author Matt Dreiling About Movie Collecting
Review: Peter Medak’s ‘The Ghost of Peter Sellers’
“If failure is the greatest teacher, then Peter Medak has earned his doctorate with ‘The Ghost of Peter Sellers.'”
Review: Alison Ellwood’s ‘The Go-Go’s’
“‘The Go-Go’s’ boasts a treasure chest full of archival content in all shapes and sizes, and the imagery almost always complements the anecdotes told by the subjects with delightful detail.”
Different Places: Jeffrey McHale’s ‘You Don’t Nomi’ Dances with the Legacy of ‘Showgirls’
“I was taken with You Don’t Nomi’s comfortable attitude toward the complexity and ambiguity of a text that can support and sustain such wildly opposite readings.”
Collecting Movies with Mallory O’Meara
Greg Carlson Interviews Mallory O’Meara (‘The Lady from the Black Lagoon’) About Movie Collecting
A Stirring Tale of Friendship: Kelly Reichardt’s ‘First Cow’
“Behold the elegance and oft-cited aesthetic minimalism with which Reichardt unfolds so many thoughts and ideas about race, representation and gender.”
Review: Spike Jonze’s ‘Beastie Boys Story’
“If you listen to Beastie Boys, Jonze’s technique — a familiar blend of rough and smooth, high tech and low tech — comes correct. If you don’t listen to Beastie Boys, the movie serves as a biographical and musical introduction.”
Review: Shannon Murphy’s ‘Babyteeth’
“Much of Babyteeth’s vitality can be located in the way each of the central characters is so fully realized.”
Review: Spike Lee’s ‘Da 5 Bloods’
“One of the most effective storytelling strategies in Spike Lee’s ‘Da 5 Bloods’ is the application of the simple and elegant dichotomy.”
Collecting Movies with Brady Daley
Greg Carlson Interviews Brady Daley About Movie Collecting