Tribeca Film Festival Review: Tanya Wexler’s ‘Buffaloed’
“No one in ‘Buffaloed’ shines brighter than Deutch, who gives a performance that will completely redefine her as an actress.”
Leaning on the Everlasting Arms: On Transcendental Style and Paul Schrader’s ‘First Reformed’
“The power of ‘First Reformed’ is rooted in Schrader’s ability to take a number of clear forbearers — Bresson, Dreyer, Pialat — and twist them into a style that feels wholly unique and rooted in a personal set of values and obsessions.”
You Want It Darker: A MoMI Series Depicts Vladimir Putin’s Russia as Violent and Corrupt
“MoMI’s series is an unflattering depiction of Mother Russia that isn’t new, but these films in particular — and this series in general — provide narratives that illustrate the specifics of Putin’s disorderly government…”
Review: Robert Smigel’s ‘The Week Of’
“Like an aging fighter that steps into the ring on short notice, Robert Smigel’s ‘The Week Of’ is overweight, unfocused and hungry for a paycheck.”
Vague Visages Is FilmStruck: Marshall Shaffer on Agnès Varda’s ‘Mur murs’
“New York might have the physical structure where one can project themselves onto a city, but Los Angeles’ mutability allows people to graft their life into its cultural fabric.”
“Well, Childhood’s Over” – Claiming Adulthood with Some Help from Greta Gerwig
An Essay by Marshall Shaffer
The Ideology of Kinko’s: A Conversation with ‘Lady Bird’ Cinematographer Sam Levy
Devika Girish Interviews Sam Levy
London Film Festival Review: Todd Haynes’ ‘Wonderstruck’
“This kind of world recreation doesn’t come cheap, and it’s a delight to see a filmmaker of Haynes’ caliber given such a worthy budget.”
Vague Visages Is FilmStruck: Kate Saccone on Lotte Reiniger’s ‘The Adventures of Prince Achmed’
“As the artist who painstakingly moved her hand-cut figures frame-by-frame, Reiniger’s presence is impossible to ignore while watching her films.”
Review: Eliza Hittman’s ‘Beach Rats’
“Hittman has created a powerful, sensual film about identity, loss and the complicated space that often lies between desire and expectation.”
Fantasia Film Festival 2017 Wrap-Up: My Festival vs. Your Festival
“I can’t make any grand pronouncements or bold proclamations, except that I need to either learn to read program descriptions more critically or invest in a plane ticket to Montreal next July.”
True/False 2017 Review: Yance Ford’s ‘Strong Island’
“‘Strong Island’ is a vulnerable, affecting documentary that illustrates what systemic racism looks like on a personal level.”
Biography and Authenticity in the American New Wave
“The lucidity and frankness with which this new wave of filmmakers can dissect their own lives speaks volumes to their talents, boding well for their efforts to come.”
EP Review: Of Montreal ‘Rune Husk’
“This is the closest anyone has come to the Head-era Monkees.”
Of Love and Other Demons: ‘The Devil Is a Woman’ (Josef von Sternberg, 1935)
A Weekly Column on Love and Erotica in Cinema by Justine A. Smith