Hallelujah (King Vidor, 1929). Hampered by problematic stereotypes imposed by studio leadership that was otherwise unwilling to fund a production featuring a cast entirely comprised of Black performers, Hallelujah nonetheless provides a hint as how different the Golden Age of … Continue reading Then Playing — Hallelujah; Ghostbusters: Afterlife; Villain
Much as the Sundance Film Festival is adored for showcasing uniquely daring independent films, the roster always has a few slots for the genially frivolous. That big-tent approach has sometimes led to truly baffling entries over the years. Just as … Continue reading Sundance 2022 — Part 3
Much as I appreciate film festivals’ general commitment to heavy dramas and effectively dispiriting documentaries, I am equally pleased that there is often special space carved out for the gloriously gory. You Won’t Be Alone, the feature debut from seasoned … Continue reading Sundance 2022 — Part 2
Before Sundance Film Festival organizers made the omicron-driven choice to cancel all in-person screenings in their longtime home of Park City, Utah, they were already one of the organizations that determined there was value in building a slightly different event … Continue reading Sundance 2022 — Part 1
Don’t Look Up (Adam McKay, 2021). Following the inspired The Big Short and the unwatchable Vice, director Adam McKay continues his run as a satiric auteur of lefty outrage with this onion skin–thin allegory of political indifference to the climate … Continue reading Then Playing — Don’t Look Up; Paper Moon; The Friends of Eddie Coyle
Spencer (Pablo Larraín, 2021). Chilean director Pablo Larraín brings the airy, arty approach of his 2016 film Jackie to another iconic female figure on the world stage. As in the earlier drama, Larraín keeps the focus on a few days, … Continue reading Then Playing — Spencer; No Man of Her Own; The Southerner
In Defense of Shame by Julia Claire Writing for Gawker, Julia Claire makes the most important argument of our age, and she does it effectively and with enviable wit. The flagrant rejection of accountability and honest assessment of wrong social … Continue reading Outside Reading — Shame Game edition
The Birth, the Life and the Death of Christ (Alice Guy-Blaché, 1906). As the title implies, this early silent film from director Alice Guy-Blaché covers the whole life of Jesus Christ in its relatively brief running time. It’s primarily a … Continue reading Then Playing — The Birth, the Life and the Death of Christ; The Sea of Grass; Times Square
Before Peter Bogdanovich made movies, he loved movies. That doesn’t seem all that unique, but it was still a relatively new trajectory into the artform in the late nineteen-sixties, when the grand old men of Hollywood’s Golden Age (and it … Continue reading Actors’ Director — Peter Bogdanovich
By the time I was old enough to pay attention, Sidney Poitier was already an icon, one of the few figures in entertainment genuinely deserving of that term. The major career-capping laurels — the lifetime achievement Oscar, the Kennedy Center … Continue reading Sidney Poitier, 1927 – 2022
Coffee for Two 