CATCHING UP WITH FILM - FILM CRITICISM WITH AN EYE ON A PERSONAL CANON

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Vincent Van Gogh - At Eternity's Gate (2018) & The Sunflowers!

It’s Vincent Van Gogh’s birthday! I’ve been celebrating by watching and reviewing movies featuring the artist’s life. I conclude with the latest incarnation, At Eternity’s Gate, directed by Julian Schnabel and starring Willem Dafoe as the artist, and I hand out rewards determined by a committee of one. Julian Schnabel seems to like making films about artists who face extraordinary circumstances. Before Night Falls is about Reinaldo Arenas who was imprisoned, and Diving Bell a

TV Wednesday - Alias Grace - American Psycho & Away from Her

Having finished up my monthly series on Alias Grace, I wanted to revisit the works of the show’s creators, Mary Harron (director) and Sarah Polley (writer). American Psycho (2000) I had been a fan of the original novel by Bret Easton Ellis, so when I first saw this movie, I felt it didn’t hold a candle to the original. Much of the allure of the book for me lay in its fragmented nature and how the different bits worked together to provide a portrait of an empty shell of a man

Theme Tuesday - Vincent Van Gogh - Loving Vincent (2017)

In honor of his birthday on March 30th, I will be devoting March to exploring portrayals of the artist Vincent Van Gogh on film. If Loving Vincent hadn’t been about Vincent Van Gogh, it would still be no less of a grand technical accomplishment. Each of the 65,000 frames is an actual oil painting painted by 125 professional painters in Van Gogh’s distinctive style. The actors were shot against a green screen, using rotoscoping technology and then their performances were paint

Uncaged - Trapped in Paradise (1994) & Kiss of Death (1995)

This year, I am going to try to get through the whole oeuvre of Nicolas Cage because my fascination with this man and his contradictions is endless. God help me. Trapped in Paradise (1994) Nicolas Cage is clearly a great comic actor, but he doesn’t get to show it much in this hybrid of a heist film and comedy. Cage plays a restaurant manager who has to manage his two brothers out on parole. Somehow, he gets roped into performing a big bank heist in the little town of Paradise

TV Wednesday - Alias Grace (5&6)

For March 2019, I will be watching Alias Grace, based on Margaret Atwood’s novel and directed by fellow Canadian artist Mary Harron (American Psycho) and written by Sarah Polley (Away from Her). Alias Grace is so many things - a character study of a fascinating woman, a murder mystery and procedural, an unromantic period piece. It’s this last element that came to the forefront in the last two episodes in a way that delighted me. Much is made of the difference between rich and

Theme Tuesday - Vincent Van Gogh - Vincent & Theo (1990)

In honor of his birthday on March 30th, I will be devoting March to exploring portrayals of the artist Vincent Van Gogh on film. Vincent and Theo seems to be almost a direct rebuke to the shiny, lush Lust for Life, which was meant more to be a compilation of the artist’s greatest hits (the ear! Gauguin! Crows!) rather than any deep exploration of the artist’s personal demons and how his behavior affected those around him. The series (I watched the four-hour television version

Uncaged - Guarding Tess (1994) & It Could Happen to You (1994)

This year, I am going to try to get through the whole oeuvre of Nicolas Cage because my fascination with this man and his contradictions is endless. God help me. Guarding Tess (1994) Is this the first movie I have seen Cage play a straight man? I am looking over the past Cage movies I have seen, and he does not give a single normal performance (except for Fast Times, which he is either barely in or not in at all, depending on which version you see). It was pretty jarring seei

TV Wednesday - Alias Grace (3&4)

For March 2019, I will be watching Alias Grace, based on Margaret Atwood’s novel and directed by fellow Canadian artist Mary Harron (American Psycho) and written by Sarah Polley (Away from Her). The middle two episodes places us in the household of Mr. Kinnear, the murdered man. Grace has fled her former household because of her friend’s death, and, despite warning from another maid, she accepts Nancy Montgomery’s request that she work for Mr. Kinnear, mainly because Nancy re

Theme Tuesday - Vincent Van Gogh - Dreams (1990)

In honor of his birthday on March 30th, I will be devoting March to exploring portrayals of the artist Vincent Van Gogh on film. Only one segment (Crows) of Kurosawa’s films is actually dedicated to Van Gogh, but the admiration that he had for the artist’s bold visual style and compositions is felt throughout this gorgeous film. I think when Kurosawa made his first color film with Dodes’ka-den, he just charged ahead with this new aspect of his artistry and never looked back.

Uncaged - Red Rock West (1993) & Deadfall (1993)

This year, I am going to try to get through the whole oeuvre of Nicolas Cage because my fascination with this man and his contradictions is endless. God help me. Red Rock West (1993) Out of all the Nic Cage movies I hadn’t seen, I was probably looking forward to this one the most. This was mainly because John Dahl had directed one of my favorite postmodern noirs, The Last Seduction, with a crackling, sexy performance by Linda Fiorentino who plays femme fatale with a double do

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