Tag: cinema
A Horror Renaissance: 2013’s greatest nightmares
While much of the world buzzes on about the Oscars, gore-hounds like myself must deal with the despairing knowledge that our genre of preference will continue to go neglected. A true shame, too, for 2013 was a stalwart year for horror, both in the independent circuit and for the oft-neglected studio pictures. With The Conjuring’s…
Employee’s Entrance: Pre-Code Hollywood and the American Dream
Pre-Code Hollywood – roughly 1929-1934 – has become a popular subject in recent years. The movies made during these years, before meaningful enforcement of the Production Code, featured all manner of salacious material. You can buy collections of them on DVD and see what all the fuss was about. When we talk about them today,…
Interviewing Whit Stillman: A cinematic sense and sensibility
There’s a lot happening for Whit Stillman nowadays. Known for the wry, urbane quality of his films as well as the almost Kubrickian periods between them, Stillman always had a lot on his plate, and this year is no exception. With two major cinematic projects in the works, a pilot for a new series called…
Jason Reitman’s Labor Day: A look at the directorial misstep
I began teaching film around the same time that Steven Spielberg released Hook (1991). When students asked me why the movie had failed, I told them that it was because it took way too long to get to Neverland. In screenwriting terms, the first act was far too long. Then they would ask how someone…
Dismissing the critic: Seven fallacious arguments against criticism
As digital technology offers countless contrarian voices the opportunity to add their share to the din of popular culture, I thought I’d take a moment to look at the difference between a valid objection and a foolish remark that ought to be dismissed outright. Within the democratised digital world, it is a potentially demoralising reality…