Screen
‘The world’s biggest student film’
It was 1983 when British filmmaker Alex Cox turned in his first feature film to Universal Studios. That same week, Cox optioned the rights to one of his favorite science-fiction novels for a future project. The movie was Repo Man. The book was Harry Harrison’s Bill, ...
Changing the face of cinema
Remember those old movies? The ones where a couple drives down the road, only they aren’t driving, they’re sitting in a car on some studio lot. And that’s not a road behind them; it’s a rear projection of road. Looks fake doesn’t it...
Truth at every level
An object is not without context, and a perspective is not without a point of view. For British philosopher Alan Watts, this was a...
In lieu of a theatrical experience: Summer edition
This was the weekend we were waiting for: A return to movie theaters in the time of coronavirus. Christopher Nolan’s latest blockbuster, Tenet, was...
Best of the fest
It’s the most common question you get as a film critic: “What’s good?” Variants include: “What do you like?” “What excites you?” “What should...
Puttin’ on the ritz
Horror movies are wondrous things. With a horror movie, one can confront their deepest darkest fears and survive them. The rush of adrenaline at the sight of danger gives way to the sigh of relief and chuckle of amusement when that danger is revealed to be harmless. ...
A slight case of accidental murder
The rocky, seaside village of Easter Cove, Maine, does not look like the kind of place you’d want to spend a winter. The snow...
‘Hockney’ takes a look inside the mind of a painter
I’m interested in ways of looking, and trying to think of it in simple ways,” David Hockney says. “Everybody does look, it’s a question...
Turning rebellion into money
What is it about messianic men and the chaos they cause? They are almost always false prophets, yet time and time again, we fall...
Illuminating content
Dear incoming film students, take a moment to learn from those who came before you, and please heed Derek Cianfrance’s advice: “Be where you...
Revenge with a twist that falls short in ‘Citizen’
Law Abiding Citizen is the latest in the bad-lawyer genre, with Jamie Foxx as careerfocused attorney Nick Rice, who accepts a plea bargain from the killer of affable inventor Clyde Shelton’s (Gerard Butler) family to ensure his excellent trial outcome record...
Preach, Spike. Preach.
Spike Lee is many things; subtle is not one of them. In 1989 — with three movies under his belt — the Brooklyn-based producer/director exploded on to a grand stage with Do the Right Thing. The movie stirred the pot and caused a fair amount of controversy, but what ...
