In 2020, theatrical moviegoing was dead in the water. Thankfully, home video sets soared, and at the very top of the list (in case you were looking for a holiday gift for the movie lover in your life) was Criterion’s … Continue reading Martin Scorsese’s World Cinema Project No. 3
Cinematographer Michael Chapman died on Sept. 20, 2020. He was 84. We hadn’t heard or seen much of Chapman recently (his last credit was Bridge to Terabithia in 2007), but Chapman was king in the 1970s and ’80s. Chapman’s first credit as … Continue reading TAXI DRIVER
As the 2020 election heats up, three docs with a political bent and three discoveries from the World Cinema Project. First, what’s new: Jimmy Carter: Rock & Roll President, All In: The Fight For Democracy, and Public Trust: When George … Continue reading This week in Film — political docs and Martin Scorsese’s World Cinema Project No. 3
Movies echo movies. Sometimes in the minds of the filmmakers: Conversations in sound and image across time and space. Sometimes in the viewer’s minds: Stories ping-ponging their way through a couple of thousand years of recorded history. More often than … Continue reading AMERICAN BOY: A PROFILE OF STEVEN PRINCE
The shadow of Alfred Hitchcock looms large in cinema. So much so that it’s hard to divorce his stylistic innovations from movies that may or may not have been influenced by him. Take Blow the Man Down, a recent release currently … Continue reading Two for the Master
With shelter-in-place orders here to stay for the foreseeable future, moviegoing remains a homebound activity. That’s fine and all, there are more movies to see via streaming than we could watch in several lifetimes, but a wealth of options can … Continue reading BLACK NARCISSUS
In honor of Arbor Day—the holiday to go out a plant a tree—I give you this short film: Trees to Tame the Wind. First, a few words. Released in 1939, Trees to Tame the Wind was a product of the United States Department … Continue reading TREES TO TAME THE WIND
As the coronavirus pandemic approaches its projected peak, the need to stay indoors takes on a renewed urgency. But, for a good many, self-isolation is less than a luxury. Escape is needed, and there are fewer art forms that offer … Continue reading On Familiar Ground: Paul Schrader and the Death Impulse
Set to screen once more along Hollywood Boulevard, the 11th annual TCM Classic Film Festival (TCMFF) was canceled due to the ongoing coronavirus pandemic. Instead, the cable channel has pivoted to a “Special Home Edition” of the festival, April 16-19.Not … Continue reading A Community in the Dark: Dispatches from the TCM Classic Film Festival
