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Negative Space (Chris Petit, 2000)

This is one of a number of Channel 4-sponsored essay films by Petit, perhaps best known for his Wenders...

Family Plot (Alfred Hitchcock, 1976)

Is this a controversial film among auteurists? I would assume that diehard Hitchcock fans would argue t...

September Poll: Single Serving Films

In accordance with the wishes of the ruly mob, I am asking you to select FOUR films below. (You could c...

Films of the Month (Not Directors)

Hey, so the poll was nearly 3-to-1 in favor of choosing select films every month, instead of a single director. Cool.

Watch this space (or one very much like it) for a new film-lad...

Annette (Leos Carax, 2021)

It's difficult to fairly evaluate Annette, because there's something glorious about...

Jerzy Skolimowski: Two Early Films

Through the courtesy of the revived cinephobe.tv website, I recently saw these two early Sko...

Before I Go (Eric Schaeffer, 2021)

So this item randomly came up on a torrent site I frequent, and it occurred to me that I had never actu...

Preliminary Poll for September: Format Change?

Should I continue selecting a Filmmaker of the Month? Or should I conduct a more MD'A-esque poll involv...

When a Woman Ascends the Stairs (Mikio Naruse, 1960)

In his invaluable e-book A Mikio Naruse Companion, Dan Sallitt mentions that he does not consi...

Orphea (Alexander Kluge and Khavn, 2020)

Last year I tried to watch Orphea and bailed after a scant 20 minutes. But recently, the Houst...

Întregalde (Radu Muntean, 2021)

The first fifteen minutes of Întregalde, the latest from Radu Muntean, are so stuffed with ac...

Oh Bondage, Up Yours!

I've just watched episodes one through three, and I detest this. Any reason I should continue?...

Catch-Up Poll: Max Ophüls

Catch-Up Poll: Mikio Naruse

Catch-Up Poll: Alfred Hitchcock

Catch-Up Poll: Satyajit Ray

Catch-Up Poll: Powell & Pressburger

(This one is mostly procedural. I know the outcome.)

Catch-Up Poll: Vincente Minnelli

August: Voting Body

Hey everyone, I have decided to use Our Beloved Month of August as a catch-up period. More specifically...

Some Came Running (Vincente Minnelli, 1958)

I am beginning to think that Minnelli just isn't my guy. He's certainly a competent technician, and kno...

Il Buco (The Hole) (Michelangelo Frammartino, 2021)

[Embargoed. You are not reading this right now. It is an illusion.]

It was eleve...

Zeros and Ones (Abel Ferrara, 2021)

[This is EMBARGOED, just so's you know.]

Are you by chance one of those long-tim...

Cutlets (Bertrand Blier, 2003)

In deciding to catch up with some old Cannes titles, I've initially gone with some films that were seve...

Please Evict My Dumb-Ass Senator

As you all know, I am not on Twitter. But I check in with the site now and then, just to see if there a...

Taurus (Aleksandr Sokurov, 2001)

As a secret contrarian, nothing would delight me more than to say that Taurus slaps. Alas, sla...

Pig (Michael Sarnoski, 2021)

Pig is an auspicious debut film, to put it mildly. First-timer Michael Sarnoski displays a rem...

We Interrupt This Program...

Hey folks, what can I say? I have grown bored, with movies, with television, with food and drink, with ...

Train Again (Peter Tscherkassky, 2021)

Peter Tscherkassky's newest film world premiered in Cannes, his fourth appearance in the Quinzaine. Can...

Meet Me in St. Louis (Vincente Minnelli, 1944)

Okay, now I'm starting to get it. Minnelli's direction here actually strikes me as a distant cousin to ...

Introduction (Hong Sangsoo, 2021)

Hong Sangsoo's two films from 2021 form an instructive if frustrating diptych. Where his mos...