Review: Darren Aronofsky’s ‘mother!’
“If ‘mother!’ lacks the refinement of a manifesto for a new breed of movie theater flick, it makes up for it in the audacity to be unique.”
Vague Visages Is FilmStruck: Jeremy Carr on Louis Malle’s ‘Black Moon’
“Communication — or the lack thereof — is key to ‘Black Moon.’”
TIFF 2017 Review: Govinda Van Maele’s ‘Gutland’
“The brooding ominousness Van Maele plays with throughout seems to run through many of this year’s European offerings.”
The Woman and the Puppet: On Abel Ferrara’s ‘New Rose Hotel’
“Her power lies in her opaqueness.”
The Sadness of Desert Trolls: On Robert Altman’s ‘3 Women’
“Altman balances searing interpersonal conflicts with a visual rhythm that’s downright whimsical.”
‘It Comes at Night’ and the Trouble with Horror Movies That Don’t Fit Into a Genre-Specific Box
“The genius of ‘It Comes at Night’ is that its monsters are, for the most part, human.”
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.”
Cannes Film Festival Review: Taylor Sheridan’s ‘Wind River’
“‘Wind River’ is a well crafted, but straightforward, thriller with an interesting setting and social context.”
Cannes Film Festival Review: Sergei Loznitsa’s ‘A Gentle Creature’
“Sergei Loznitsa goes for absurdist satire, but, unfortunately, the joke’s on him.”
‘Twin Peaks’ and Beyond the Alphabet
“The failure of language permeates ‘Twin Peaks,’
an abundance of verbiage disintegrating under the looming and ageless presence in the woods.”
Delay in the Reflection: On Richard Kelly’s Definition of a Post 9/11 World in ‘Southland Tales’
“To catch the eye of ‘Southland Tales’ is to look back on our past and future simultaneously, on the limitations of our technology and the humanity that screeches through it.”
The Original Sin in ‘Ex Machina’: Ava Is the Origin
“‘Ex Machina’ is not a projection of A.I. fear, but more of a preliminary intervention on the organized process of fearing and hating women.”
Not Your Trophy: Deer Imagery in Jordan Peele’s ‘Get Out’
“‘Get Out’ explores many notions: the duplicitous nature of liberal racism, the cumulative damage of microaggressions and appropriation, assimilation versus acculturation. But it’s the deer imagery that continue to elude audiences.”
‘The Handmaiden’: A Sensuous, Sumptuous Tale of Secrecy, Sex and Subversion
“Park demonstrates how the complicated relationship between role-play, desire, secrecy, power and revenge prove ripe for darkly comic (and perverse) fodder.”
Genre Whiplash: The Surprising Genius of Karyn Kusama
“By providing viewers with a satirical undertone, Kusama offers a place to rest, making the subversion of viewer expectations all the more potent.”
The Many Peculiar Virtues of Wes Craven’s ‘My Soul to Take’
“As the second last film in one of the great contemporary horror filmmaker’s careers, it’s an extraordinary example of artistic self-reflection and development.”
Moments of Revelation in Martin Scorsese’s ‘Silence’ and ‘Shutter Island’
“What is the cost to oneself of living by a system of belief?”
Casting a Spell for Peace: On ‘Arrival,’ Max Richter and Our Unending Need for Violence
“It’s in Louise’s absolute refusal to allow our barbaric side to win that ‘Arrival’ shows its moral core.”
‘Arrival’ and the Perils of Science Fiction
“What is awkward about these ‘Arrival’ reviews is how they oppose the film’s best qualities to its generic roots.”
Weak Story Beats Muddle ‘Frank & Lola’
“There’s plenty to appreciate in ‘Frank & Lola,’ and it’s far from a bad film. However, the story beats feel awkward and random.”