Les Blank Hits Criterion: A Cultural Radical In Documentary Form
I’m not sure I’d think much about diving into the work of Les Blank if only given a plot synopsis. His films, including a plethora now available in a stunni...
Peter Labuza
[Review] Here’s to the Future!
In Day for Night, François Truffaut explored the toils and troubles of a film shoot: his fight with actors, justifying his vision to skeptical journalists, and ...
‘L’Aventurra’ Hits Criterion: The Metaphor of Absences From Antonioni to Assayas
Due to the nature of the relationship between these films, spoilers follow for L’Avventura and Clouds of Sils Maria.
“Cinema needed that scene to exist, ...
Shirley Clarke and the Obscuring of Reality
As Portrait of Jason and Ornette: Made in America arrive on Blu-ray, we look at how the filmmaker makes the familiar deeply unfamiliar....
[Review] Dying of the Light
Getting a great turn from Nicolas Cage — a disturbingly physical performer who can go from 0 to 10 in the blink of an eye -- requires the considerate crafting o...
[AFI Fest Review] Tu dors Nicole
It’s perhaps possible that the whimsical nature of Tu dors Nicole would be rather unbearable in the form of an American studio comedy, the kind that fills the a...
[AFI Fest Review] Over Your Dead Body
Perhaps in another version of Takashi Miike’s latest film (and his first to be receiving a proper US distribution deal since 2011’s 3D extravaganza Hari-Kiri), ...
[AFI Fest Review] Buzzard
In an episode of my podcast, The Cinephiliacs, colleague Vadim Rizov noted a humorous but mostly essential statement when describing his disappointment with the...
[AFI Fest Review] The Iron Ministry
While not technically made under the auspices of the Harvard Sensory Ethnography Lab, The Iron Ministry, directed by associated member J.P. Sniadecki, begins wi...
[Review] Interstellar
Let’s not critique Christopher Nolan for his constant exposition. Nolan, perhaps the best-known quantity in Hollywood filmmaking of the last decade, has been co...
