“Look around you, this is the uprising.” When Children of Men was released in 2006, it flopped. It had nothing to do with the filmmaking. Visually, this is one of the most striking films of the last two decades. It flopped because the story was too real. The politics...
Jojo Rabbit is an "anti-hate satire" featuring a bumbling Nazi pre-teen and a comical imaginary Adolf Hitler. But is there an effective message underneath these startling satirical elements? Taika Waititi’s most beloved films combine an unencumbered sense of fun with a deep compassion for their characters. The New Zealand director’s rise to...
Netflix's Dolemite Is My Name depicts the rise of sexually explicit comedian Rudy Ray Moore, from underground phenomenon to blaxploitation legend. There is a scene in Dolemite Is My Name, the new Netflix film about the rise of Rudy Ray Moore and his famous persona, when Dolemite and his new friend, Lady Reed, perform a near-nonsensical song about...
Bong Joon-ho's latest film, Parasite, is an awe-inspiring morality tale that's perfect for 2019. From the opening frames of Bong Joon-ho’s newest film, Parasite, it’s made clear that this is a world centered around necessity, and the way it feeds into the societal roles we play. The focus is on two families, the most important being the Kims, in...
Delving into the alienation of modern life, groundbreaking Iranian film A Girl Walks Home Alone At Night is so much more than just another vampire picture. It comes to The Byrd next week. A melancholy romance draped in the atmosphere of 1950s noirs and 1960s spaghetti westerns, Ana Lili Amirpour’s 2014 directorial debut announced her as a...
Celine Sciamma's powerful period piece, Portrait Of A Lady On Fire, creates a sensitive and devastating portrayal of two women falling in love. “Is it better to have loved and lost than to have never loved at all?” It's a question that has been asked countless times throughout the history of cinema, to the point where, frankly, it isn’t that...
Lulu Wang's directorial debut, The Farewell, explores the morality of lies and the complexities of family dynamics. Lulu Wang's The Farewell features a scene where Billi, played by Awkwafina, learns from her grandmother, or Nai Nai, how to dispel toxins from her body. The routine involves exhaling and then forcefully thrusting one's arms in front...
Featuring Jane Fonda at her early-70s best, this atmospheric mystery from Alan J. Pakula shines in its new Criterion Collection reissue. Successful producer-turned-director Alan J. Pakula hit a hot streak in the 1970s, beginning with his “Paranoia Trilogy” -- three films with a visceral sense of atmosphere and a Hitchcock-ian sense of voyeurism,...
In his latest film, director Riley Stearns takes on deceptive ideologies to shock audiences with humor and horror. In our modern age of fast information and lack of fact-checking, it has become easier than ever to indoctrinate and brainwash populations. This is seen in the rise of the Alt-Right in particular, as well as the general rise of...
In a film adapted from star Jimmie Fails' own life experiences, The Last Black Man in San Francisco examines one man's relationship with history, gentrification, and the city he comes from. The Last Black Man in San Francisco details the many complex relationships present in Jimmie Fails’ life. The main focus is his nostalgic and loving...
