Gerald Peary

Book Review: “The Path to Paradise: A Francis Ford Coppola Story” — Still Carrying On

February 23, 2024
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“The Path to Paradise” is yet another bio in praise of a high modernist male artist who is seen as that much more colorful because of his excesses and failures.

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Film Review: “How to Have Sex” — Proper Instructions

February 9, 2024
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Has there ever been a better or more accurate film about young girls on the edge of adulthood testing out their sexuality?

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Film Review: “American Fiction” — Pinned Down by Blackness

December 10, 2023
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In this promising filmmaking debut of Cord Jefferson, we’re given a too-rare peek in cinema into upper middle-class African-American life.

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Film Review: Quality Time in French Foodie Heaven

December 6, 2023
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Frederick Wiseman’s latest documentary — an immersive visit behind the scenes of a three-star Michelin restaurant — is a savory, irresistible treat.

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Book Review: “Cosmic Scholar: The Life and Times of Harry Smith” — Living His Own Personal Surrealism

September 15, 2023
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Biographer John Szwed proves masterly at decoding even Harry Smith’s zaniest works and he’s excellent at offering us the narrative of Smith’s raggedy and colorful life. “The Life and Times” is a very good read.

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Film Review: “In the Company of Rose” — The Rich Life of Rose Styron

June 30, 2023
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James Lapine’s charming documentary explores the life of Rose Styron, who at the age of 96 still reigns as the undisputed queen of “The Vineyard,” as she calls it.

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Film Festival Review Round-Up: Provincetown 2023

June 22, 2023
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I could sense a bit of the downfall of indie narrative cinema at last week’s 25th Provincetown Film Festival, but luckily the spirited programmers dug deeper and worked harder to locate worthwhile cinema.

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Book Review: “But God Made Him a Poet: John Ford” — An Essential Book on a World-Class American Director

May 18, 2023
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What makes Scout Tafoya’s book a radical departure from earlier studies is his in-your-face challenges to John Ford’s character and his racial politics.

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Film Review: “Out and About” — An Important Return to Filmmaking

May 7, 2023
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Indie films of worth made by people with talent are falling into the cracks, and that’s sadly the fate of Out and About, a smart, beautifully shot and acted movie by Peter Callahan.

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Film Review: “The Taking” — Appropriating Monument Valley?

May 5, 2023
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Most of this documentary is so beautiful the temptation is to switch off the preachy, didactic soundtrack and just watch and watch.

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