Director Frank Borzage’s wonderful 1937 History Is Made at Night, newly restored and released on Blu-ray and DVD by the Criterion Collection, defies pigeonholing.
Film Review: “Poly Styrene: I Am a Cliché” — Courage and Artistry Relevant to Our Moment
The documentary strikes a remarkably rich vein, covering not only music, fashion and a late-1970s social critique, but also matters of race, class, gender, mental health and spirituality.
Film Review: 1930’s “Ingagi” — An Elusive Beast from the Dark Shadows of American Cinema Emerges
In its day, Ingagi raked in the crowds with a promise of weird African animals and “wild” women, and a teasing of bestiality.
Film Review: “News of the World” — An Intimate Two-Shot of a Western
The filmmakers use their story to point towards a way to help us navigate through our own polarization; it has something to do with each of us widening our perspective to take in more than just our immediate experience.
Film Review: “White Riot” — The Superb, Sadly Relevant, Story of Rock Against Racism
Director Rubika Shah ends her film on this high note, but no one watching could conclude that the struggle is over
Arts Remembrance: Old-Time Radio Announcer Frank Gallop — A Wonderful Set of Pipes
Feisty, funny, frightening when necessary, Boston’s Frank Gallop classed-up the airwaves.
Film Review: “The High Note” — Too Many False Notes
This is a feminist battle where all participants wear marshmallow boxing gloves.
Film Review: “The Ghost of Peter Sellers” — A Riveting Postmortem
The documentary has a “why me?” element to it, with a dark comic edge, but it isn’t a pity party.
Film Review: Alice Guy-Blaché — One of the First, if not the First, Makers of Narrative Cinema
A fuller accounting of the creative contributions of women to the film industry in its early decades is still fighting for a place in mainstream awareness. The documentary Be Natural is a valuable battering ram in that fight.
Film Review: At BUFF-o-WEEN — The “Blood & Flesh” of Al Adamson, King of the Shoestring Budget
“They were pieces of shit when we shot ‘em, but later on they became relics.”