57th International Film Festival in Edinburgh
Not the best of times, not the worst of times
Recent DVDs: Christ in Concrete, The Garden of Eden, Breaking the Cycle, Mau Mau Sex Sex, Ordinary Sinner
Five DVDs for every taste, though some are more appetizing than others
Documentaries · Film Technology & History
Cinerama Adventure
“See it without glasses!”
Together Again in the Dark: The 2003 Chicago International Film Festival
The crowd has a thousand eyes
Characters · Drama · Essays
Tunes of Mutiny, or Making the Job Bearable: On The Caine Mutiny
“Meet the new boss, same as the old boss.”
Activist & Political · Directors
Film as a Catalyst for Social Change: Ousmane Sembene’s Borom Sarret
This 1963 short film, considered the first African-made African film, remains relevant 40 years later
Activist & Political · Actors & Personalities · Essays
The Trouble with the Governator: Being Arnold
The ascension of Arnold salvation, apocalypse, or trigger for a resurgent left?
Experimental & Underground · SF & Fantasy
Jonathan Miller’s Alice in Wonderland (1966) on DVD
Through the looking glass darkly
All That Heaven Disallows: Ali: Fear Eats the Soul on DVD
Postwar German culture is skewered in this Fassbinder masterpiece, beautifully presented by Criterion.
Knocking on Modernity’s Door: Fellini’s I Vitelloni
Postwar despair, Italian style
Quickies: Random Short Reviews from Barbarella to Liquid Sky to The Weather Underground
“All that’s missing is a death-bed blowjob.”
Documentaries · Essays · LGBT & Queer · Religion & Spirituality
Trembling Before G-d: or Die Volkschmiere
Who will judge the judges trembling before sex? The atheists!
His Brother’s Keeper: Steve James’ Stevie
The ills of this wounded Everyman may be beyond healing.
Steven Spielberg: A Jew in America: Deconstructing Catch Me If You Can
“If only I knew then what I know now.”
An Unclaimed Country: The Austrian Image in American Film and the Sociopolitics of The Sound of Music
On cliche, culture, and locating national identity in Wise’s epic musical
Directors · Exploitation & Erotica · Genres · Writers & Critics
Dancing with Werewolves: John Sayles in Roger Corman’s Hollywood
It Came from New World Pictures!
Some Bark, No Bite: The Mouse That Roared on DVD
Strangelove gets sweet
Fists and Feathers: Madame Satã Reviewed
Don’t mess with Madame
Shalom? Auf Wiedersehen! Werner Herzog’s Invincible
“Invincible” Herzog does it again
Links + BSA
