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Tag Archives: reviews
06/05 (2004); Dir. Theo van Gogh
Director, Theo van Gogh On November 2, 2004, Dutch film director Theo van Gogh (his great-grandfather was Vincent van Gogh’s brother, Theo) was killed in broad daylight by Dutch-Moroccan Mohammed Bouyeri. Van Gogh was cycling to work, and Bouyeri shot … Continue reading
Jacques Tati’s Playtime: Life Is Better Than Beautiful. It’s Funny.
So much has been written on Jacques Tati’s wondrous Playtime (1967) that it can be daunting to throw myself into the fray. But here we go. The movie is a unique experience, completely itself, and if you try to compare … Continue reading
On Fellini’s Amarcord
… in honor of Federico Fellini’s birthday, which is today. Sometimes from this tumult an image of perfect beauty will emerge, as when in the midst of a rare snowfall, the count’s peacock escapes and spreads its dazzling tail feathers … Continue reading
Posted in Directors, Movies, On This Day
Tagged coming of age, Fellini, Italy, politics, reviews
11 Comments
The Slow Burn of Once Upon a Time in Anatolia
Taking place over one long 24-hour period, Once Upon a Time in Anatolia, winner of the Grand Prize at Cannes, directed by Nuri Bilge Ceylan, tells the story of a police unit driving endlessly through the monotonous grandeur of the … Continue reading
Donya (2003): “You Have Exhumed My Life.”
When we first see real estate mogul, Hadj Reza Enayat (Mohamad Reza Sharifinia) he is collapsed in a chair, his swollen feet being washed by his whining wife (Gohar Kheirandish). Hadj is a grotesque person, in our first impression. He … Continue reading
The Key to Streetcar Named Desire is Stella, and Don’t Let Anyone Tell You Different: A Review of Who Am I This Time? (1982)
A re-post, because I’ve got love and theatre on the brain. Is it not monstrous that this player here, But in a fiction, in a dream of passion, Could force his soul so to his own conceit That from her … Continue reading
Posted in Movies
Tagged A Streetcar Named Desire, Christopher Walken, comedy, literary adaptation, reviews, Susan Sarandon, Tennessee Williams
10 Comments
The Importance Of “As If”: Women Without Men (2009)
A group of intellectuals and artists sit around a table in a restaurant, drinking wine, and talking about Camus and democracy. Camus’ comments on freedom are approved of by some in the group, and rejected by another, who argues that … Continue reading
Posted in Movies
Tagged historical drama, Iran, Iranian film, politics, reviews, Shabnam Toloui
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Lawrence of Arabia Writ Large
Seeing David Lean’s Lawrence of Arabia on the big screen in a packed huge movie theatre was awe-inspiring and also quite interesting. I know the movie quite well, and have seen it and studied it at home. I recognize its … Continue reading
Posted in Actors, Movies
Tagged David Lean, Lawrence of Arabia, reviews, war, war movies
17 Comments
Polisse (2011). It’s a Horrible Job But Someone’s Gotta Do It.
This originally appeared on Capital New York. “You try to handle it on a case by case basis,” one member of Paris’ Child Protection Unit says when asked about the emotional implications of his job. He deals with victims of … Continue reading
Passionflower (2011), Directed by Shelagh Carter
Kassidy Love Brown as Sarah in “Passionflower” A little girl sits in the kitchen of a friend’s house. The friend’s mother, wearing an apron, stands at the counter peeling potatoes. The mother says, “Sarah, would you like to stay for … Continue reading