Hommes Fatales: Fritz Lang’s ‘The Blue Gardenia’
“‘The Blue Gardenia’ occupies a curious space inside noir. In many ways, it acts as an indirect response to many of the films that preceded it, with their icy femmes fatales…”
TIFF 2018 Review: Jonah Hill’s ‘Mid90s’
“The influence of Larry Clark’s 1995 cult film ‘Kids’ may be all over ‘Mid90s,’ but Hill has a more tender and perhaps more realistic approach of his young subjects: they are smart enough to know when they’re going too far.”
Days of Future Past: History and ‘Blade Runner 2049’
“As ‘Blade Runner 2049’ suggests, perhaps the way forward into a future of possibility is through a deeper investigation of the past’s secrets.”
“Well, Childhood’s Over” – Claiming Adulthood with Some Help from Greta Gerwig
An Essay by Marshall Shaffer
Disney Dreams in Sean Baker’s ‘The Florida Project’
“‘The Florida Project’ is a marvelous portrait of childhood that depicts how it feels to live on the fringes and just out of reach from The Happiest Place on Earth.”
Vague Visages Short Stories: Bleeding and Breathing Deeply by Q.V. Hough
Vague Visages Short Stories #7: Bleeding and Breathing Deeply by Q.V. Hough (Fargo, North Dakota)
Review: Matt Spicer’s ‘Ingrid Goes West’
“Unexplored potential aside, there is a deeper issue which casts ‘Ingrid Goes West,’ for me at least, in a pale rather than neon light.”
Album Review: Frankie Rose ‘Cage Tropical’
“The transformation of 1980s synth pop from a frequently mocked fad into a respectable modern genre has been glorious to behold.”
Review: Fabrice Du Welz’s ‘Message from the King’ (Netflix Original)
“For the most part, ‘Message from the King’ doesn’t mess around.”
Photo Essay: ‘Back on the Boulevard’ by Q.V. Hough
August 2016
‘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.”
There’s Something Inside You: Nicolas Winding Refn’s ‘Drive’
“It’s the subliminal drive toward the realization of his ideal self that evokes his potential.”
‘Mulholland Dr.’ 4K Restoration: Another Look Behind Winkie’s Diner
“Just as with life, ‘Mulholland Dr.’ is unexplainable.”
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.”
American Crime Story: ‘Marcia, Marcia, Marcia’ Is the Missing Chapter of ‘O.J.: Made in America’
“‘Marcia, Marcia, Marcia’ exposes the intersection between the powerful forms of marginalization which shape the O.J. trial, as well as, more broadly, contemporary American life.”
A Serious Investigation: The Coen Brothers’ ‘Barton Fink’ (1991)
Leading up to the release of Hail, Caesar!, Vague Visages explores the work of Joel and Ethan Coen.
A Serious Investigation: A Fargoan on the Coen Brothers’ ‘Fargo’ (1996)
Leading up to the release of Hail, Caesar!, Vague Visages explores the work of Joel and Ethan Coen.
Vague Visages’ Q.V. Hough and Max Bledstein Discuss ‘Narcos’
A Conversation about Netflix’s Polarizing Series
The Dueling Cavalier: ‘Tangerine,’ ‘Toy Story’ and Technology in Storytelling
A Column by Max Bledstein
This House Is Not a Home: On John Cassavetes’ Troubled Families
An Essay by Phuong Le