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Tag Archives: Iranian film
October 2015 Viewing Diary
Moontide (1942; d. Archie Mayo – and an uncredited Fritz Lang) And John O’Hara wrote the screenplay. How I love this film. Ida Lupino plays a suicidal girl, rescued from the waves by Bobo (a to-die-for Jean Gabin). Bobo is … Continue reading
Posted in Monthly Viewing Diary, Movies, Television
Tagged Australia, Channing Tatum, Chantal Akerman, Charles Vidor, Claude Rains, documentary, England, France, Gena Rowlands, Gilda, Guillermo del Toro, Ida Lupino, Iran, Iranian film, Ireland, Joe Berlinger, John Ford, John Sturges, John Wayne, Kristen Wiig, Maureen O'Hara, Mexico, Nicholas Ray, Peter Weir, Poland, Ridley Scott, Rita Hayworth, Supernatural, Thomas Mitchell, William Wellman
70 Comments
September 2015 Viewing Diary
I got a pretty big writing assignment this past month, with a deadline of October 5. So I’ve been working hard, researching, as the below list will probably show. Not ready to talk about it yet, still working on the … Continue reading
Posted in Monthly Viewing Diary, Movies
Tagged Agnes Varda, Alan Ladd, Anna Karina, Canada, Charles Vidor, Charlton Heston, Claude Chabrol, Dana Andrews, documentary, Doris Day, Elizabeth Taylor, England, France, Fred Astaire, Fritz Lang, Gilda, Gloria Grahame, Guillermo del Toro, Iran, Iranian film, Irene Dunne, J. Miller Tobin, Jafar Panahi, James Cagney, Jean-Luc Godard, John Wayne, Laura Dern, Maggie Smith, Marilyn Monroe, Mélanie Laurent, Mexico, Otto Preminger, Out of the Past, Paul Thomas Anderson, Ramin Bahrani, Rita Hayworth, Robert Mitchum, Supernatural, Terrence Malick
159 Comments
Review: Taxi (2015); d. Jafar Panahi
Talk about persistence in the face of unimaginable obstacles. Dissident Iranian director Jafar Panahi, arrested, imprisoned, placed on house arrest, dealing with a 20-year ban on film-making, not allowed to travel, not allowed to talk to foreigners, his livelihood taken … Continue reading
Jafar Panahi’s Taxi (2015): Another Defiance of the Ban
The movie I am most looking forward to, coming soon to the New York Film Festival, with a release afterwards, is hounded/oppressed/gifted Iranian director Jafar Panahi’s Taxi. Jafar Panahi, who directed angry funny award-winning films such as The White Balloon, … Continue reading
Review: A Girl Walks Home Alone at Night (2014); directed by Ana Lily Amirpour
I reviewed A Girl Walks Home Alone at Night for Rogerebert.com, and put it on my Top Movies of the year list. It weaves some kind of weird spell, with its genre mix of vampire-horror, family-angst-drama, 1950s gearhead/rebel-kids, and Spaghetti … Continue reading
May 2015 Viewing Diary
The X-Files, Season 2 Episode 20 “Humbug” (1995; d. Kim Manners). Mulder and Scully investigate murders among circus-folk. Laugh-out-loud funny, especially Mulder in the fun-house, sliding out of the wall, gun drawn. The X-Files, Season 2 Episode 22 “The Calusari” … Continue reading
Posted in Monthly Viewing Diary, Movies, Television
Tagged Abbas Kiarostami, Argentina, China, documentary, Ellen Burstyn, England, France, Iran, Iranian film, Italy, Joaquin Phoenix, John Wayne, Marilyn Monroe, Martin Scorsese, Mia Hansen-Løve, Michelangelo Antonioni, Otto Preminger, Robert Mitchum, Russia, Supernatural, X-Files
45 Comments
April 2015 Viewing Diary
About Elly (2009; d. Asghar Farhadi). At long last. Wrote it up here. Misery Loves Comedy (2015; d. Kevin Pollak). Navel-gazing documentary about comedians and how they think about what they do. A cast of thousands. Lots of great anecdotes. … Continue reading
Posted in Monthly Viewing Diary, Movies, Television
Tagged Agnes Varda, Albert Maysles, Argentina, Asghar Farhadi, baseball, Chantal Akerman, Denmark, documentary, France, Iran, Iranian film, Italy, Jean-Luc Godard, John Wayne, Josef von Sternberg, Nicholas Ray, Pakistan, Poland, Romania, Sandrine Bonnaire, Supernatural, Sweden, X-Files
32 Comments
Review: About Elly (2009); directed by Asghar Farhadi
If you give an answer to your viewer, your film will simply finish in the movie theatre. But when you pose questions, your film actually begins after people watch it. In fact, your film will continue inside the viewer. — … Continue reading
Posted in Movies
Tagged Asghar Farhadi, drama, Fireworks Wednesday, Golshifteh Farahani, Iran, Iranian film, reviews, Taraneh Alidoosti
7 Comments
Jafar Panahi Issues Statement
Jafar Panahi should need no introduction, but just in case… Jafar Panahi is a director from Iran, with an international reputation, and an incredible list of films, The White Balloon, The Mirror, The Circle, Offside, Crimson Gold. (He’s one of … Continue reading

