Miranda July Mints “Kajillionaire”
Polymath artist Miranda July adds an excellent new title to her filmography with “Kajillionaire.” As hard to reduce or simplify as “Me and You…
Read NowArt and Entertainment · 2020
She Dies Tomorrow: Amy Seimetz Contemplates the End
Well-deserved praise for writer-director Amy Seimetz’s efficient and provocative “She Dies Tomorrow” almost inevitably points to the film’s eerie timeliness...
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“I’m Thinking of Ending Things”: Charlie Kaufman Knows You Can’t Always Get What You Want
Charlie Kaufman, the unfairly talented and imaginative cinematic magician whose screenplays and films have explored the realms of art, artifice, and identity...
Read NowFeels Good Man: Arthur Jones Looks at the the Life and Death of Pepe the Frog
Director Arthur Jones makes his auspicious feature debut with “Feels Good Man,” an engrossing and timely documentary that examines the phenomenon of artist...
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Collecting Movies with Matt Dreiling
Matt Dreiling worked for twelve years as a cameraman, gaffer, and cinematographer on feature films, documentaries and commercials. A few years ago, he fled...
Read NowLost at Sea: Peter Medak Is Haunted by “The Ghost of Peter Sellers”
Peter Medak, the veteran filmmaker who met with early career success directing Peter O’Toole in “The Ruling Class,” puts together a fascinating cautionary...
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Can You Hear Them? Alison Ellwood Chronicles “The Go-Go’s”
The line is repeated so often that it does an instant, sexist disservice to the band’s greatness: The Go-Go’s were the first group composed…
Read NowDifferent Places: Jeffrey McHale’s “You Don’t Nomi” Dances with the Legacy of “Showgirls”
Jeffrey McHale’s “You Don’t Nomi” lines up a colorful gallery of defenders and detractors ready to reflect on the serpentine journey of Paul Verhoeven’s…
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Natalie Erika James’ Horror Debut “Relic”
Natalie Erika James delivers a strong directorial debut with “Relic,” another Sundance 2020 world premiere now available on demand. Working from a screenplay...
Read NowCollecting Movies with Mallory O’Meara
Filmmaker and screenwriter Mallory O’Meara is the author of “The Lady from the Black Lagoon: Hollywood Monsters and the Lost Legacy of Milicent Patrick.”…
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Kelly Reichardt’s “First Cow” a Stirring Tale of Friendship
Both Jim Jarmusch’s contemporary classic “Dead Man” and Kelly Reichardt’s newly released “First Cow” open with cosmic epigraphs. The former uses Henri...
Read NowShannon Murphy’s “Babyteeth” a Strong Feature Directorial Debut
Writer Rita Kalnejais adapts the script of her own 2012 play “Babyteeth,” and Shannon Murphy, delivering her feature directorial debut, guides a fantastic...
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Da 5 Bloods
Looking for Buried Treasure in Spike Lee’s “Da 5 Bloods”
Read NowCollecting Movies with Brady Daley
Brady Daley does UI/UX design, data visualization, and media production in Seattle, where he lives with his girlfriend Erika, dog Phinneas (Finn), and his...
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Icon’s Daughter Guides “Natalie Wood: What Remains Behind”
Natasha Gregson Wagner, known to David Lynch fans for her performance in “Lost Highway,” guides viewers through an intimate but tightly controlled portrait...
Read NowJosephine Decker Casts a Spell with Elisabeth Moss as “Shirley”
Another significant 2020 title skipping theatrical release for digital platforms, Josephine Decker’s “Shirley” premiered at Sundance in January, where Decker received a U.S. Dramatic…
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“The Assistant”: Kitty Green’s Important Workplace Drama
The most compelling and powerful idea in Kitty Green’s compelling and powerful film “The Assistant” resides in the network of complicity protecting the...
Read NowCollecting Movies with Caity Birmingham
Caity Birmingham is a production designer who lives in Los Angeles. We have been friends for a long time, and originally bonded over our…
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“Le choc du futur” Shares the Sounds of Tomorrow
Musician Marc Collin’s “Le choc du futur,” one of the handful of South by Southwest-selected features recently included in the festival’s online partnership...
Read NowOn the ephemerality of things: thoughts on the demise of a small literary press
A few years ago, I was giving a talk at the Fargo Public Library about researching and writing my book, The Horizontal World,…
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Rachel Harrison Gordon’s Dazzling Debut Short “Broken Bird” Part of SXSW Collection on Amazon Prime
As alternative viewing strategies for avid moviegoers seeking fresh content continue, the South by Southwest filmmakers who opted to join the Amazon Prime...
Read NowForeign Objects: “Swallow” a Convincing Debut for Mirabella-Davis
Carlo Mirabella-Davis’s noteworthy feature debut as writer-director examines, with a degree of precision and deliberateness that would impress...
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Crip Camp (2020)
Sundance 2020 opening night selection and audience award winner “Crip Camp” -- now streaming on Netflix -- recounts the incredible grassroots movement that...
Read NowCollecting Movies with Mike Scholtz
My friend Mike Scholtz, the director of “Riplist” and many other fantastic documentaries, collects movies when he’s not making them. He especially likes VHS...
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