Ahmir “Questlove” Thompson could have made a straightforward concert film with the footage he was given, and the finished product could have still been one of the highlights of the cinematic year. With hours upon hours of footage from the … Continue reading Top Ten Movies of 2021 — Number Two
Writer-director Ti West has a clear, abiding affection for bygone eras when certain film genres were afforded the space to exist in their own dark ecosystem. He is an expert explicator of templates and tropes, slyly operating on the borderline … Continue reading Now Playing — X
Man on a Tightrope (Elia Kazan, 1953). The oddity from Elia Kazan takes place in Czechoslovakia and follows a circus operator (Fredric March) who chafes against the oppressive Communist government that nationalized his traveling troupe. With a few similarly disgruntled … Continue reading Then Playing — Man on a Tightrope; Take a Giant Step; Witness to Murder
In its storytelling particulars, Shiva Baby is tightly contained and rendered with exquisite efficiency. Most of the film takes place among the grieving noshers at a shiva, where college student Danielle (Rachel Sennott) twists and cringes as a fleet of … Continue reading Top Ten Movies of 2021 — Number Three
Rafiki (Wanuri Kahiu, 2018). This brisk, bright coming-of-age film takes place in Kenya, where its central same-sex romance is technically against the law. Kena (Samantha Mugatsia) is a withdrawn girl who is struck by the lively exuberance of Ziki (Sheila … Continue reading Then Playing — Rafiki; Cash on Demand; Westworld
William Hurt changed my perception of acting. I was fourteen when I saw his performance in The Big Chill, so I was certainly old enough to realize that acting required effort beyond memorization and recitation to bring authenticity to a … Continue reading William Hurt, 1950 – 2022
Black-Owned Bookstores Safeguard Our History as Racists Try to Ban It by St. Clair Detrick-Jules As they fully intend, it’s difficult to pin down precisely which of the right wing’s many infractions against political norms and basic decency is most … Continue reading Outside Reading — Black Ink edition
It is admittedly no feat to spot the influences in a film directed by Kogonada. With After Yang, the South Korean-born filmmaker has two features to his name. He also has a slew of film essays on the work of … Continue reading Now Playing — After Yang
Salaam Bombay! (Mira Nair, 1988). Director Mira Nair’s first fiction film owes a lot to her preceding documentaries. In depicting the plight of children living on the streets of India, Nair worked largely with amateur actors, many of whom were … Continue reading Then Playing — Salaam Bombay!; Found Memories; Along Came Jones
The Lost Daughter, the feature directorial debut of Maggie Gyllenhaal, is dense with the anxiety of simply living. Adapted, by Gyllenhaal, from a 2006 novel by Elena Ferrante, the film follows Leda (Olivia Colman), a college professor who is on … Continue reading Top Ten Movies of 2021 — Number Four
Coffee for Two 