Why ‘The Ballad of Buster Scruggs’ Is More Than the Sum of Its Parts
“In a way, the Coens complete the arc of the film, tying it together cohesively, by suggesting that the arc is random, sometimes cruel, and sometimes meaningless.”
TIFF 2018 Review: Brady Corbet’s ‘Vox Lux’
“By being so lazy and aggressive with his judgment of pop culture, Corbet ends up making a film that is bland in its anger, annoying in its attacks and ridiculous in its contempt for its characters and audience.”
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.”
Vague Visages Is FilmStruck: Kate Saccone on Charles Walters’ ‘Summer Stock’
“I’ve always had a soft spot for ‘Summer Stock’ — it may not be the most innovative or exciting of Kelly’s films, but it’s an unpretentious movie that delights in the pure pleasure of musical entertainment, from the outright silly to the romantically sincere.”
Of Elephants, Daughters and Rebels: Bobby Sarma Baruah’s ‘Sonar Baran Pakhi’
“In its thorough research and extensive reconstructing of the artist’s life, ‘Sonar Baran Pakhi’ is a document of celebration. Of the artist, the daughter, the mother. And the effortless rebel.”
Political and Social Conventions in Jacques Demy’s ‘The Umbrellas of Cherbourg’
“Fifty-three years after initial release, ‘The Umbrellas of Cherbourg’ continues to be a formally and contextually innovative French New Wave production; a film that has influenced contemporary directors such as Barry Jenkins, Damien Chazelle and Joachim Trier.”
Sparkling Romances and Sweet Facades: Damien Chazelle’s ‘La La Land’
“Might I put it out into the ether that a ‘weak link’ doesn’t exist in ‘La La Land’.”
Streamless – Off the Subscription Grid: ‘The Star Wars Holiday Special’
Mike Postalakis on the 1978 Fiasco ‘The Star Wars Holiday Special’
‘Crazy Ex-Girlfriend’: In Celebration of Dramatic Women
“Through all of these corny musical numbers, the rom-com scenarios, and the outrageous ‘I Love Lucy’ levels of scheming, I find myself relating to Rebecca against the odds.”
Cult Vault, Part Three: On Campy, Queer Figureheads In ‘Mommie Dearest’ and ‘The Rocky Horror Picture Show’
“So, what is it about these two figureheads of cult film that makes them so iconically and definitively camp?”
Of Love and Other Demons: ‘Tokyo Tribe’ (Sion Sono, 2014)
A Weekly Column on Love and Erotica in Cinema by Justine A. Smith