Among the things I have never really been able to shake are the few pages in the middle of Where the Wild Things Are that don’t even have words. There are just big, fat and feathery beasts cavorting, swinging from branches, and tumbling about in a stylized forest – and then the book gets back […]
Dave Kehr has a few remarks on the release of a set of woefully underseen films by Yugoslavian director Dusan Makavejev by Criterion’s Eclipse branch. Which is great news for fans of Eastern European cinema. But then the comments turn into a great conversation about the longevity of the DVD format, and the future of […]
Even though this Chattanooga only appears in flashes in Jarrod Whaley’s Hell is Other People, it works well as background for this perfectly cast take on unemployment, self-awareness, and really awkward attempts at initiating human contact.
Of all the things circulating out there in festival land, I am most intrigued by Dumont’s latest film, Hadewijch. There is a great intensity to the way Dumont’s films evoke spirituality as a formal device, and his latest sounds like another step towards Bresson in this regard. From the interview: These days I am very […]
I had no idea there was an International Animation Day until I recieved the press release today. Thankfully, as is typical, the National Film Board is all over it with a range of both bricks and mortar and online programs. Apparently, the online programming begins on October 8. Warning: Be very careful when you visit […]
As I hope you already know, The Auteurs periodically posts a collection of films that can be watched for free at the click of your mouse. For free. Online. Click of a mouse. These aren’t always descriptors that tend to be connected to things of great quality. But in this case, they are. Somehow The […]
Even though I like Steven Soderbergh, I don’t understand him. The way he ranges from the linear density of sex, lies and videotape to the off-kilter drama of Kafka and Schizopolis to crime thrillers, period pieces, possible Oscar bait, and science fiction retakes makes it difficult to talk about him as an auteur. If he […]
So many of our identity markers are doomed to extinction because we have trouble producing images that will enact or rehearse them as formative ideas. (Or “performative” ideas?) Because it is effective, The Ordinary Radicals shows us that there is a need for more Christian documentaries and essay films, which in light of Matthew’s language would be better eyes for the body.
A while back I posted a capsule review of Scenes From a Parish, and ever since then I have become increasingly convinced that this is a film more people with even the slightest interest in Christian praxis beyond the culture wars should make an effort to see. It is a very understated, modest film – […]