Val Lewton’s Symbolic Statuary: A Photo Essay
“It was once the figurehead of a slave ship. That’s where our people come from. From the misery and pain of slavery.” ~ I Walked with a Zombie
Actors & Personalities · Silents
Rudolph Valentino: Dream Lover
“Valentino said there’s nothing like tile for a tango!” — Norma Desmond to Joe Gillis in Sunset Boulevard (1950)
Jean Renoir’s Toni: Unreal and True
And staying forever young
Horror · Reviews · SF & Fantasy
Goin’ Down the Road Feeling Bad: John Hillcoat’s The Road
“Hillcoat and his crew have taken the book’s hints and modeled their scavenging pair on contemporary images of homeless people, who already, as Hillcoat aptly puts it, are ‘living that apocalyptic world of day-to-day survival on the streets with no money and no food.'”
Hollywood’s Nightmare, Not Ours: On The Mist, Story (1980) and Film (2007)
Director Frank Barabont hijacks — and sinks — Stephen King’s powerful allegory of political oppression
A German Tragedy, Turned Absurd: Fassbinder’s Satan’s Brew
“Allowing his acidity unfettered reign, Fassbinder concocts one of the most blistering excoriations of despotism ever committed to film.”
Lists · Movies · Writers & Critics
Rating Movies: Or, Seeing Stars
“I want my favorites to get the high ratings — my judgments are being challenged by anonymous forces whom I cannot confront.”
Crime · Historical & Epic · Reviews
The Scent of a Woman: Perfect Misogyny in Perfume: The Story of a Murderer
“The Grenouille of the film experiences an emotional epiphany that does not bring him humanity, but at least makes him yearn for its possibilities.”
“We’re Engaged to Be Engaged”: The Paranormal Activity of Trauma and Relationship
“The camera has a motor, you just turn it on and walk away” – Andy Warhol
Licence to Kill (1989): The Last James Bond Movie
Don’t worry or question; just consume – oh, and kill
Documentaries · Music & Musicals
When Thelonious Met Pannonica: Hannah Rothschild’s The Jazz Baroness
“The Jazz Baroness goes beyond the barrel of stereotypes the screeching monkeys of society use against the intricate gusts of life swirling about us.” Really!
Actors & Personalities · Interviews
Confessions of a Hollywood Tough Guy: An Interview with Rod Steiger
“The only thing that is absolutely important for me is quality.”
Counterculture · Directors · Documentaries · Interviews
Drawing from Life: Talking with Director George Hickenlooper
On Art, Identity, Families, Fragmentation, Medication . . . and Fulfillment
Writing (and Filming) the Memories: An Interview with Guillermo Arriaga on The Burning Plain
“Arriaga’s use of eroticism and semi-incest between respective children of the two illicit lovers is more than a pastiche; it’s an organic outgrowth from an idea.”
Actors & Personalities · Directors · Interviews · Visual Artists
“Myself as Queen”: A Profile and Interview with Anna Biller
“My interest in creating visual worlds is what led me to both painting and film.”
Pinned on Both Sides: No Escape for Paul Muni’s Fugitive
“The film suggests the denial of the common worker, whose service to industry is only as worthy as his social status.”
The New French New Wave? Sex and Horror in the Modern Arthouse
“The explicit nature of this wave of filmmaking can be interpreted as a riposte to modern cultural sensibilities.”
Inimitable Charm: Wes Anderson’s Fantastic Mr. Fox
“Anderson, like Dahl, seems to have told a story to appeal to a child’s inner adult.”
Actors & Personalities · Photo Essays
Don’t It Make Your Brown Eyes Blue? What Really Separates Ben and Matt
Hand me those contacts!
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