Film
The Brutal Futurism of Godard’s Past
By David N. MeyerA 1966 Godard classic returns to the big screen and reminds viewers that — in the hands of a master — post–modern alienation and ravishing beauty don’t have to be mutually exclusive
A Royal Pain
By Tessa DeCarloMarie Antoinette and The Queen examine the world of monarchical excess from opposite perspectives — and with disparate results.
Old Fashioned Gore and Familiar Tropes: The 2006 NYC Horror Film Festival
By David WilentzScary movies aren’t dead — they’re just underground. A much–maligned genre shows signs of life at “The 2006 NYC Horror Film Festival.”
DOCS IN SIGHT
By Williams ColeShut Up and Sing, chronicles the Dixie Chicks’ much publicized battle with right–wing ideologues over their anti–war political stance. The Bridge, inspired by a New Yorker article, examines the Golden Gate’s morbid appeal as world–famous suicide site.
KAWAII Unchained: Sailor Suit & Machine Gun
By David WilentzScreening five teen–idol action flicks, The Japan Society reexamines the sex appeal–trumping cuteness that characterized Japanese pop–icons in the ‘80s.
DVD Culture
By Matt PetersonJean-Luc Godard’s 1985 Hail Mary, coming twenty years after Contempt, and twenty years before Notre Musique, springs from smack in the middle of the no-man’s land that was Godard in the ’80s. ...
DVD Culture
JIGOKU (Criterion Collection)
By David WilentzThe Japanese horror movie Jigoku, recently released on DVD by the Criterion Collection, blends Western and Eastern concepts of sin, justice and hell in a blisteringly cohesive nightmare vision.
