|Chris Ryba-Tures| If you’re reading this, there’s a good chance you already know something about One Cut of the Dead. If you’ve seen it, you don’t need me to tell you how special it is, nor would you want me spoiling it. An unassuming genre-bender like this, packed to the gills… Continue reading
|Cole Seidl| Shinichiro Ueda’s One Cut of the Dead has been incredibly, yet quietly, influential since its initial release in Japan in 2017. It has spawned a small independent film movement in Japan known as “nagamawashi” films (or “long take” films) which aim to exploit the… Continue reading
|Lars Johnson| Cinema is an art form that is still largely in its infancy. Andrei Tarkovsky’s meditative and groundbreaking films pose many questions. From the ennui present in Stalker that probes our souls and interrogates our collective morality to the existential crises of faith… Continue reading
|Timothy Zila| The final image of Andrei Tarkovsky’s Nostalghia might encapsulate the filmmaker himself. A man and a dog sit next to a pond—the man leaning to his right, but staring forward with a solemn air. Content and sleepy, the dog lies in the grass, staring straight ahead. Continue reading
|Doug Carmoody| Cinema of Absence. Michaelangelo Antonioni’s L’eclisse (1962) begins with a directorial confession. In preparation for a grim romantic argument, Vittoria (a young woman played by Monica Vitti) takes a moment to adjust her surroundings. She reaches through an empty picture frame… Continue reading
|Courtney Kowalke| The adage “Comedy equals tragedy plus time” doesn’t really hold true for The Earrings of Madame de… (1958). In one early scene, aristocratic main character Louise (Danielle Darrieux) lies to her husband about losing the titular earrings while attending… Continue reading
|Dan McCabe| The Earrings of Madame de…(1953) may be the last great work of the French “Poetic Realism” period. It certainly isn’t the only film that marks the end of a historical era in the development of motion pictures. What interests me about it is that usually evolve… Continue reading
|Bob Aulert| – Oscar Levant. In the realm of meta-cinematic narratives, few films have achieved the level of sharp satire and self-awareness as Robert Altman’s 1992 film The Player. It’s a two hour long “Fuck You” from Altman to the mainstream film industry; a scathing commentary… Continue reading
|Yuval Klein| At the Mexico–U.S. Border, gangsters and police animate a caustic criminal underbelly. The protagonist, Mike Vargas, is a respected Mexican criminal prosecutor who crosses over to his American newlywed’s home country at the precise moment of an… Continue reading
|Patrick Clifford| “Oh man! You’ve never seen Touch of Evil?” “Oh… Man. That first shot!” “Tick, tick, tick, tick… tacka-tooka, tacka-tooka…” This was how my good friend Juan Torres introduced to me to Touch of Evil. Long ago, when we were college students in Chicago. I can still see… Continue reading
