Joys Known Only to the Insane
In Hereditary and Midsommar, Aster's characters search for their place in the world—and can only find it by embracing evil.
Samuel Kronen
· 11 min read
film
A collection of 29 posts
The Forgotten Ford
Before Han Solo and Indiana Jones, there was another Harrison Ford, a star of silent cinema.
Christian Kriticos
· 15 min read
Fan Service vs Geek Service
From the Iliad to Mission: Impossible, creators have wrestled with the question of how much universe-building is too much.
Stewart Slater
· 9 min read
How The Blues Brothers Saved American Music
The Blues Brothers (1980) fostered a renewed appreciation of some of the best music America has ever produced.
Jacob Bielecki
· 12 min read
Brave New Marvel
Despite serious flaws, ‘Captain America: Brave New World’ is much better than Marvel’s recent offerings. Perhaps the franchise may have turned the corner.
William Barker
· 8 min read
A Perfectly Charming Chinese Girl
Against long odds and in the face of exclusionary casting, Anna May Wong bequeathed us an extraordinary cinematic legacy.
Thomas Doherty
· 11 min read
Megalopolis: Bloated, Outré—and Brilliant
Like a Hieronymus Bosch painting, it’s chaos alright—but it’s a dazzling chaos.
Ralph Leonard
· 8 min read
Roman Polanski’s ‘Chinatown’ Fifty Years On
Chinatown is noir at its bleakest, yet most stylish.
Ralph Leonard
· 9 min read
Roger Corman: A Filmmaker’s Filmmaker
An account of all the lives Corman touched, the careers he helped to jump-start, and the genres he pioneered would fill several books.
Jacob Bielecki
· 12 min read
How Superhero Franchises Are Killing Original Cinema
Most new movies feature neither good storytelling nor innovative filmmaking. Instead, they rely on the nostalgia of ready-made fan bases.
Jacob Bielecki
· 7 min read
History on Horseback: Napoleon Bonaparte
The French emperor and military commander played a pivotal role in an epochal transformation.
Ralph Leonard
· 16 min read
‘The Princess Bride’ at 50
A look back at William Goldman’s bonkers metafictional novel ‘The Princess Bride,’ which later became a much-loved family film.
Kevin Mims
· 18 min read
Belafonte Reappraised
Neither hagiographers nor haters of the late musician, actor, and activist have managed to get him right.
Ronald Radosh
· 18 min read
Social Panic at Sundance
Meg Smaker’s film about the rehabilitation of former Guantanamo terror suspects was nuanced and sympathetic. But the mob didn’t care.
M. Pollino
· 8 min read
Guilty and Insane
Dissociative Identity Disorder and the riddle of human responsibility.
Daniel Kriegman
· 20 min read