Category: Articles
The 15 films up for the Best Documentary Oscar, and a few they missed
When we were young, we used to have Oscar contests just like the kids do today. This was before the internet, and there were no websites which would simply tell you what to pick for Animated Short or Costume Design. You needed some other methods for choosing winners in categories you knew absolutely nothing about.…
Fourteen Amazing Films You Might Have Missed in 2017
2017 was a pretty good year for American film. Sure, there were plenty of head scratchers, disappointments, and outright train wrecks, but that’s for another column. (Which will be called “Head Scratchers, Disappointments & Outright Train Wrecks” – it’s all about the ampersand.) Today, we celebrate the minor gems. “Minor” only in the sense that…
American Film Institute: 2018 European Union Film Showcase
The American Film Institute’s Silver Theatre held the 30th edition of its European Union Film Showcase this December. Always a highlight, the 2017 Showcase screened 44 new movies from the 28 EU member nations. Here is a brief recap of this year’s Showcase. THE SUBLIME The Workshop (Laurent Cantet, France) On Body and Soul (Ildiko…
Siding with ‘Dirty Harry’ on the Use of Violence in Movies
Think anyone in the history of movie-watching ever felt sorry for serial killer “Scorpio” in the 1971 Don Siegel policier Dirty Harry? What, no one at all? Not even when Clint Eastwood’s Inspector Harry Callahan tortures the guy by stepping on his injured leg after shooting him on a football field? Or when he stabs…
Nudity, ‘Blade Runner 2049’ and the Hollywood Gaze
The biggest problem with Denis Villeneuve’s misfire of a sci-fi sequel Blade Runner 2049 (2017) is not its sizeable length. Nor is it the fact that the music at the climax misguidedly referenced Vangelis’ wistful primary theme from Ridley Scott’s original 1982 film Blade Runner—a melody that calls attention to the fact that Hans Zimmer…