The Felliniesque Century
Consistently regarded as one of the world’s very greatest filmmakers, Federico Fellini is a daunting subject. Developing a bombastic and playful style, he is one of the few who can […]
Tag Archives: fantasy
Double Feature: Pickford vs. Temple
Eleanor Gates began writing novels just after the turn of the century, then turned to writing plays before starting a film production company in 1915. This same trajectory was taken […]
“FLAAAAA-CCID!” — The Stunt and Body Doubles of Death Becomes Her
Of all the modern American directors, none has shown a more comprehensive interest in the advancement of special effects than Robert Zemeckis. Most of his movies, regardless of genre, seem […]
Uh … 3 ½? — Uncle Boonmee Who Can Recall His Past Lives
The Introduction When I set about, in July of 2015, to watch all the major films by the Thai director Apichatpong Weerasethakul (known affectionately as “Joe”), the thought crossed my […]
Baby Paul’s First Weekend: Letterboxd Reviews
Here’s a reminder that I’ve been writing capsule reviews for my latest movie retrospective over on Letterboxd. Below are five of them, selected for movies that are either distinctive or […]
Both Versions: Star Wars
For the twentieth anniversary of his greatest accomplishment, George Lucas brought Star Wars (now known, for clarity’s sake, as Star Wars Episode IV: A New Hope) back into theaters with new digital […]
My Favorite Movies: The Rocketeer
Here’s a pair of Letterboxd reviews for movies that I happened to see this week without any prior intention of comparing them: Deadpool (link) and The Rocketeer (link). The fact that each […]
My Favorite Movies: Groundhog Day
Not many movies can pull double duty. Excelling at one thing is hard enough. But the late Harold Ramis’s Groundhog Day is a comedy-fantasy that finds the perfect harmony between the […]
Caped Wonder, Winged Freak: A Superman/Batman Postmortem
Superhero movies have, over the course of seventy-odd years, blown up like a balloon. With each stage of development, from serials to television to early blockbusters to post-9/11 tentpoles, the budgets […]
My Favorite Movies: Superman
The film’s marketing tagline — “You’ll believe a man can fly” — and first four words of dialogue — “This is no fantasy” — make the interpretive approach to 1978’s Superman […]
Geppetto's Clocks 