|Chris Polley| When I found out that no one had claimed to write something for the Trylon’s upcoming screening of 1984 Canuxploitation dance-ercise flick Heavenly Bodies, I felt like Charlie getting the golden ticket to the chocolate factory. What did I do to deserve this? I’d thank… Continue reading
|Malcolm Cooke| Werner Herzog has one thing to say to the proponents of Cinéma Vérité: “‘Happy New Year, losers.’”1 Herzog has always had beef with the idea of documentary as from the perspective of a fly on the wall, a genre of detached and objective reporting of facts. “That… Continue reading
|Dan McCabe| In 1999, acclaimed German filmmaker Werner Herzog came to the Walker Art Center for an on-stage interview with the late film critic Roger Ebert. During the interview, Herzog made his “Minnesota Declaration”—a twelve-point denunciation of Cinema Verité, a style of documentary… Continue reading
|Ed Dykhuizen| Female directors were commonplace, even at times dominant, in early film history. Alice Guy-Blaché directed more than 450 short films starting in 1896. Many scholars credit her with the first movie that had a narrative. In these earliest years, small companies… Continue reading
|Ryan Sanderson| When I began this process, I did not know how personal writing about Donnie Darko would feel. It was never one of my favorite films. I was introduced to the film by my freshman roommates alongside a rolling festival of late 90s/early aughts male angst… Continue reading
|Finn Odum| This essay contains spoilers about Donnie Darko. The night I’m writing this is the evening of July third. Five years ago, somewhere between this time that evening and the morning of the fourth, my grandfather Jim passed away. I don’t like fireworks anymore. love will tear us apart… Continue reading
|Allison Vincent| When we first started dating, my wife worked at a puzzle room in St. Paul, MN. One of the many perks of such a venture is that I got to play-test rooms occasionally. One such room was heavily influenced by a certain wizarding world created by She-Who-Must-Not-… Continue reading
|Brad Bellatti| For the better part of 15 years, the above image of Chaplin has bothered me. No matter how many times I watch this sequence, the finale of Charlie Chaplin’s The Great Dictator (1940) shakes me up. I’ve tried many times to find the right words to express this sentiment… Continue reading
|Matthew Christensen| My husband Luka and I have divergent tastes in movies. If I am sitting in the living room watching an old Hollywood musical or a period piece, he takes one look at the television, announces in a mix of Turkish and English, “Tamam. I will be in bed reading a book. Hadi… Continue reading
|Ben Jarman| My mom is back with her take on another film that would normally disinterest her: Godzilla vs. Gigan. My mom never watched Godzilla films with me when I was a kid, but she never stopped me from watching or pretending I was a giant creature in my backyard. A giant to her is… Continue reading
