Steven Spielberg’s West Side Story is fairly entertaining, fairly decent, but that’s about it.
Film Review: “Bergman Island” — Isle of Frustration
Bergman Island is a curious, intelligent film that suffers from a disappointing breakdown.
Film Review: “The Green Knight” — An Art-House Medieval Drama
Is what we see real or in the spirit world? Whatever, I cheer on filmmaker David Lowery’s luminous time-traveling. Pure cinema poetry.
Film Feature: Best of American Film Noir, 1940-1959 — An International Poll
The results of a Facebook contest for the Best of American Film Noir, 1940-1959
Film Commentary: Dorothy Davenport — Neglected American Female Cineaste
The Road to Ruin is a practically unknown film begging for discovery, and to be championed as a startling example of pre-Code cinema. And as a keystone for creating a directorial reputation for “Mrs. Wallace Reid.”
Film Commentary: Provincetown Film Festival — A Very Good Year
John Waters and I were in sync with our favorite in this year’s festival.
Book Review: “Shooting Midnight Cowboy” — A Very Good Read
What motivated me to read this book? Not for a special love of Midnight Cowboy, a movie which I like but isn’t ultimately important to me. It was to learn about James Leo Herlihy, who has interested me since I was an adolescent.
Film Review: “A Reckoning in Boston” — Muckraking and Heartbreaking
A Reckoning in Boston demonstrates that fifty years after the bussing-era failures to improve the lives of Black people, there is, in James Rutenbeck’s telling words, “No justice, no truth, no reconciliation.”
Arts Remembrance: “Why Not Say What Happened” — Morris Dickstein’s Memoir About Living a Life of the Mind
RIP Morris Dickstein, among the last of the generation of the New York School of Jewish intellectuals, scholar/critics of massive knowledge and intellect who came from humble backgrounds.
Film Review: “The Inheritance” — Brilliant and Necessary
In its celebration of current-day Black culture, and of the vitality of Black youth, The Inheritance is an optimistic work.