Saint Maud (Rose Glass, 2019)
It's admirable how Saint Maud splits the difference between the au courant stylings of Elevated Horror and a fairly traditional psychological thriller. Glass is not overly concerned with glacial pacing or precious compositions, although the underlit cinematography does become a bit of a barrier. It seems that Saint Maud w...
2021-04-17 20:54:21 +0000 UTC View Post
Watching these Hitchcock films recently, I noticed something I was doing somewhat unconsciously. As I logged them onto Letterboxd, I found myself refraining from automatically clicking on the "like" heart icon. Where Lifeboat and Notorious were concerned, I went back and clicked the like-button afterwards, but as I logged The 39 Steps (version one), I had a momen...
2021-04-17 20:00:37 +0000 UTC View Post
Well, I certainly enjoyed the unpredicted, 20-minute hailstorm that just happened. (Between pea-sized and golf-ball-sized). This planet is so fucked, etc.
But that's not the only bizarre occurrence. I just discovered that not one but films are opening tomorrow, directed by that nondescript fellow above. Do you recognize him? You should, apparently, because he is a major figure for our times. Me...
2021-04-16 00:55:03 +0000 UTC View Post
"I got your double espresso right here, pal!"
This one was tricky. Although I usually try to formulate my thoughts on a film without reading a lot of outside criticism, I needed a hand with Notorious, because in certain ways it seemed to needlessly cruel. By setting Alicia Huberman (Ingrid Bergman) up as the quarry in an international espionage scheme, the film seemed at first...
2021-04-15 18:38:40 +0000 UTC View Post
Occasionally you come across a film that is undeniably impressive but not what you'd call "good." Destello Bravío is extremely auteur-forward; there's nary a shot or a scene that does not aggressively stamp itself with a clear authorial vision. When you consider that this is Rodríguez's debut feature, the filmmaker's clear sense of purpose is all the more notable. Destello Bravío 2021-04-14 02:34:40 +0000 UTC View Post
[NOTE: I have decided to focus only on Hitchcock this month. I will turn my attention to Satyajit Ray in May.]
A fascinating film centered on social dynamics, Lifeboat nevertheless seems to have been widely relegated to Hitchcock's B-column. But then, I guess with a filmography like that, there are going to be some tough calls regarding taxonomy. Reading about Lifeboat, I was ...
2021-04-11 18:53:45 +0000 UTC View Post
It is a very delicate thing indeed to forge a hybrid between narrative and experimental cinema. Too often the balance tips too far to one side or the other. This can result in avant-garde techniques being used as a kind of funky window dressing for conventional storytelling. Or conversely, one kind end up making an essentially non-narrative film that attempts to shoehorn performances and para-literar...
2021-04-10 04:57:24 +0000 UTC View Post
Mousing around today, I found this 1993 review from the Austin Chronicle, written by Marjorie Baumgarten. She's discussing the (to my knowledge) one and only film by American experimentalist David Blair, entitled Wax, or the Discovery of Television Amon...
2021-04-09 02:40:29 +0000 UTC View Post
The I and S of Lives (Kevin Jerome Everson, 2021)
Everson's films are a lot of things. They constitute an ongoing cinematic prose-poem about contemporary Black life. They could be said to form a documentary mosaic, profiling people and events that would otherwise go unnoticed, by the dominant culture and possibly even by the people who are actually experiencing them. But I'd al...
2021-04-09 02:24:56 +0000 UTC View PostHappy Asexual Awareness Day! ROCK 'N ROLL!!
Recently here in Texas we had a deep freeze, with record-low temperatures that surpassed anything on record since the 1980s. In addition to skidding cars and busted pipes, we lost some plant life. At my house, there was a large palm tree that sustained some damage but nevertheless survived the storm. The thing was huge when we moved in, and has only gotten pricklier and more expansive since that time...
2021-04-06 19:18:21 +0000 UTC View Post
A Glitch in the Matrix (Rodney Ascher, 2021)
I've seen three features and a short from Ascher, but it wasn't until I was halfway through A Glitch in the Matrix that I felt like I'd sort of figured him out. His work is characterized by being, as they say, "very online." He's dealt with whacked-out film interpretations (Room 237), competing theories of sleep par...
2021-04-05 03:50:52 +0000 UTC View PostA few random notes on Species, as we move through the film pictorially, in reverse.
1. Interesting, and a bit disconcerting, to see two Oscar winners cavorting with the likes of Michael Madsen and Marg Helgenberger. As it happens, Ben Kingsley delivers what may be a career-worst performance. (Above: Ben's done making friends.)
2021-04-02 05:28:24 +0000 UTC
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It's a bit of a mess, but it's by no means a hot mess. My Brother's Wedding has narrative bones that are a bit stronger (not to say sturdier) than those of Killer of Sheep. But this doesn't always work to the later film's advantage. It's not just that Wedding is torn between Killer's impressionism and more conventional storytelling. The two impulses are often at od...
2021-04-02 02:42:40 +0000 UTC View Post
So rather than have a fourth vote, which would most likely resolve nothing, I am going to split my attention between Alfred Hitchcock and Satyajit Ray this month. This will probably mean that I delve into second-tier Hitch (relatively speaking -- the only revered masterpiece I've never seen is North By Northwest) and higher-profile Rays. (I.e., the Apu Trilogy). So let's hear it for...
2021-04-02 01:43:45 +0000 UTC View Post
I could justifiably select Kieslowski to be the Auteur of the Month at some point. I've only seen three of his features (Red, Blue, and The Double Life of Veronique) and I haven't seen them since they were in commercial release. So you can pick your jaw up off the floor: I have never seen any of the Dekalog, or either of its Short Film About offshoots.&nbs...
2021-04-01 03:15:19 +0000 UTC View Post
Along with The Final Insult, this PBS documentary on the legacy of Nat Turner is the great discovery of my deep-dive into Burnett's career. (I still have one to go, My Brother's Wedding.) Both films demonstrate just how much Burnett can accomplish in one hour, and even if the abbreviated running times are externally imposed, by producers or by funding, they certainly prove what by n...
2021-03-30 20:50:17 +0000 UTC View Post
How responsible is Harvey Weinstein for butchering The Glass Shield? I must admit, compared to the man's other crimes, this doesn't seem quite as pressing a question as it did 25 years ago, but there's no denying that the film is a bit of a mess. Although there is a slight inconsistency of tone throughout The Glass Shield, the wheels don't really come off the thing until the last 15...
2021-03-30 06:02:20 +0000 UTC View Post
I've decided to throw every director who polled 10% or above in this runoff. Let's see how this goes.
2021-03-30 05:26:39 +0000 UTC View PostI still have a couple of major Burnetts to cruise through, but April approaches. So... Presented this month in order of number of films seen, then alphabetical.
2021-03-28 19:02:56 +0000 UTC View Post
In these post-Marker, post-Farocki times, it's hard to imagine why someone would make a normal documentary, with structure and argumentation, when it's both easier and more theoretically correct to assemble a collection of tangentially related fragments all circulating around the same general theme, It's not a mess. It's a constellation!
I'm sorry of the above sounds embittered or aest...
2021-03-28 06:15:52 +0000 UTC View Post
I watched this for a project that asked writers to revisit films that were formative for our burgeoning cinephilia, the idea of course being that we have changed, our tastes have evolved, and a film from this period of our lives is certain to hold some personal weight. When I was in high school, A Zed & Two Noughts was one of two films that radically refocused my ideas about what cinema ...
2021-03-24 04:34:32 +0000 UTC View Post
Several Friends (1969)
A meandering portrait of Black life in South Central L.A., Several Friends could be seen as a dry run for Killer of Sheep, although that would sell it short. The film, as you might expect, features a group of friends who plan to spend the day drinking and hanging out, possibly going to see a movie, until a minor incident flare...
2021-03-22 18:02:54 +0000 UTC View Post
Lest we forget, Céline Sciamma is a prolific screenwriter, and aside from her own five features she has written scripts for films that, in their surface, appear quite different from her own films. One of them, Being 17, was directed by the great André Téchiné, and I think one can strongly sense Téchiné's influence on Petite Maman. A small, relatively quiet story about family i...
2021-03-19 19:59:48 +0000 UTC View Post
Martin Scorsese's PBS series "The Blues" featured seven segments, directed by seven different directors. And in what can charitably be called an odd choice, Burnett was the only Black person among them. Reviews of the series consistently indicate that two of the entries, Burnett's and Wim Wenders', were the most unconventional in approach. Having only seen the Burnett film, I cannot say for sure.
... 2021-03-18 20:29:41 +0000 UTC View PostSo my "situation" with Rebecca H. fell through. So could I prevail upon you to vote again?
2021-03-18 18:27:30 +0000 UTC View Post
