Love Me or Kill Me: Sex, Death and Desire in Yann Gonzalez’s ‘Knife + Heart’
“Sex and death may be inseparable, but, to the commune of queers and pornographers of ‘Knife + Heart,’ so are sex and life.”
ArteKino Festival 2018 Review: Babis Makridis’ ‘Pity’
“What saves ‘Pity,’ and the ‘Greek Weird Wave’ as a whole, from tipping into nihilism is the humanism at its core; it is the pessimism of thwarted hopes rather than the negative drive of cynicism.”
Blood in the Snow Film Festival 2018 Review: Tomas Street’s ‘Fugue’
“One of the most exciting things about smaller film festivals is the possibility of seeing the kind of movie that one might not get to see otherwise. That’s what makes Tomas Street’s ‘Fugue’ such a great discovery.”
The Inescapable Magic of Bi Gan’s ‘Long Day’s Journey Into Night’
“In a way, the premise is just the antechamber that one has to see before entering the main room.”
Leave Them Kids Alone: The Subversive Commentary of ‘The Faculty’
“‘The Faculty’ adds a wrinkle to its parasitic creature that sets it apart from most alien assimilation stories, one that is closely tied with the film’s setting and teenage viewpoint.”
Interview with ‘Cam’ Filmmakers Isa Mazzei and Daniel Goldhaber
Zach Vasquez Interviews ‘Cam’ Filmmakers Isa Mazzei and Daniel Goldhaber
Brooklyn Horror Film Festival Review: Daniel Goldhaber and Isa Mazzei’s ‘Cam’
“‘Cam’ is an uncomfortable watch, despite its absolutely dazzling visuals and outstanding production design.”
In the Shadow of ‘The Hairy Bird’
“Given what we now know about Weinstein’s welding of harassment, assault and power to control the women in his professional orbit, it’s uncanny that a seemingly frivolous film about a girls boarding school could share such parallels with the #MeToo movement.”
Brooklyn Horror Film Festival Review: Veronica Kedar’s ‘Family’
“‘Family’ is a gorgeous looking film with framing and editing that is often exquisite. It boasts a palette of rich earth tones and vivid dark colors that are beautiful but oppressive, much like the film itself.”
Sensual Synths and Death Drones: Listening to ‘It Follows’
“The quickening tempo of non-diegetic, alienating sounds should not be simply viewed as part of a film score, but as an access point into the fear-induced perspectives of the victims within this film world.”
VV Shudder Selects: Using the Camera to Confront the Male Gaze in ‘Revenge’
“Fargeat is almost saying, ‘well, if you want to look at her, you must look at her no matter her condition.’ It is a grotesque way of calling out the male gaze, but it is an effective one.”
Outside the Frame: On ‘Hale County This Morning, This Evening’
“‘Hale County This Morning, This Evening’ is a cinema of living and breathing freedom: a poetry in light and sound that is bridling at the constraints of the very documentary form itself.”
Blowback: Peter Berg’s ‘Mile 22’
“Blowback occurs when policymakers fail to take into account the far-reaching ramifications of their actions.”
TIFF 2018 Review: Peter Farrelly’s ‘Green Book’
“‘Green Book’ becomes more than a comforting story of a friendship that today would actually be perfectly likely when its baseline intersectionality shows its limits.”
TIFF 2018: Like the Hope of Rain After a Long Summer – A Review of John Butler’s ‘Papi Chulo’
“Apart from fantastic performances from its cast, especially Bomer and Patiño, Papi Chulo’s biggest strength is the subtlety and grace with which it deals with the wide cross-section of issues it touches upon.”
TIFF 2018 Review: Neil Jordan’s ‘Greta’
“Greta’s biggest asset is that it’s a film that relishes in its own absurdity.”
An Undercooked Genre Stew: Marco Dutra and Juliana Rojas’ ‘Good Manners’
“‘Good Manners’ isn’t without its share of redeeming factors, to be sure, but Dutra and Rojas are simply hamstrung by their chosen medium, which pits an overabundance of ideas to a constricting runtime.”
Diary of a Vagabond: João Dumans and Affonso Uchoa’s ‘Araby’
“Uchoa and Dumans’ distanced, matter-of-fact portrayal of their vagabond renders ‘Araby’ an elusive and open film. It’s particulars aren’t always announced, because — as with Bresson — the text ask viewers to meet it where it stands.”
Berlinale 2018 Review: Cédric Kahn’s ‘The Prayer’
“‘The Prayer’ – and its strange mountain community – is oddly timeless or out-of-our-time.”
Vague Visages Writers’ Room: Favorite Films, Albums and Books of 2017
Vague Visages Writers on Their Favorite 2017 Releases