Death of an Old-Fashioned Clown
Willard was a kind of Holy Fool even among fools.
Simon Evans
· 7 min read
Cinema
A collection of 93 posts
Easy Rider: 50 Years Looking for America—A Review
Bingen is right about one thing, though: Easy Rider really is an important movie—much more important than a simple measure of its quality would suggest—which is probably why the American Film Institute, among others, continues to rate it so highly.
Graham Daseler
· 14 min read
Nineteen of the Loneliest Films Ever Made
Some of them are stylish pop art or lowbrow trash—depending on how initiated you are with their appeal. But they will also make you cry or simply stare at the screen with a detached jaw as you begin to rethink their implications behind your sterilized walls.
Art Tavana
· 12 min read
Farewell, My Lovely
Chinatown is a remarkable blend of screenwriter Robert Towne and director Roman Polanski’s antipodal sensibilities.
Graham Daseler
· 14 min read
So Here's to You, Buck Henry
Most of us are distant spectators to the roped-off paintings that line the museums inside our aesthetic imaginations. Some of the pieces have been removed; others don’t have appropriate labels.
Art Tavana
· 10 min read
'The Report' Review—A Careful Examination of the CIA's Interrogation Methods
As unpleasant as this kind of harsh treatment was, defenders of EITs maintained that it fell short of torture.
Michael J. Totten
· 10 min read
'White Christmas' and the Triumphs of the Greatest Generation
Michael Curtiz’s 1954 classic White Christmas is so popular that it generates new think-pieces every time the holiday season rolls around. Last year, the New York Times republished its own original review of the film, in which the late Bosley Crowther panned the movie. Other pieces in other places
Kevin Mims
· 11 min read
'The Rise of Jordan Peterson'—A Review
The Rise of Jordan Peterson constructs a kaleidoscopic narrative that enables the viewer to look at the same sequence of events in several different ways.
Carol Horton
· 11 min read
Fear of a White Joker: When Did the Left Stop Caring About Crime's Root Causes?
The key to reducing violence amongst any demographic is in ascertaining the specific attributes of violent individuals.
Samuel Forster
· 6 min read
'Cancel Culture,' Roaring Twenties-Style
The term “cancel culture” has become hotly contested of late. Critics say it is indiscriminately used to describe different degrees of mass opprobrium produced by transgressions that range from the trivial to the criminal. Now, while mob justice is never a particularly good idea, it is certainly true that some
Kevin Mims
· 12 min read
Once Upon a Time...Film Critics Became Joyless—A Review
Tarantino is quintessentially American. He lets us linger and watch Tate in all her Technicolor radiance. He lets us love her. What’s more, he lets her watch and love herself.
Steven Volynets
· 9 min read
From Academia to Hollywood: An Interview with Tony Tost
Right now, I’m maybe most spooked by how a living, breathing cultural memory is seeming to evaporate.
Clay Routledge
· 21 min read
How Prophetic Was Gattaca?
Gattaca was prophetic, but not quite in the way Niccol intended.
George Schifini
· 5 min read
The Conservative Manifesto Buried in 'Avengers: Endgame'
If you haven’t seen Endgame yet—or if you take comfort in the delusion that Marvel is “woke”—stop reading now.
Aaron Sibarium
· 10 min read
Dragged Across Concrete—A Review
In a cultural moment that has seen reputations destroyed by a single tweet, each transgression can become the entirety of a person’s character.
David G. Hughes
· 6 min read