Essays
56 articles
The fantasist: The comic art of Woody Allen
Everyone knows Woody Allen. At least, everyone thinks they know Woody Allen. His plumage is easily identifiable: horn-rimmed glasses, baggy suit, wispy hair, kvetching demeanor, ironic sense of...
Jan 24, 2015 / Graham DaselerCinema at the Margins
Wheeler Winston Dixon’s Cinema at the Margins is an enlightening collection of essays and interviews. Wearing his encyclopedic knowledge lightly, Dixon shares his expert insights and research in an...
Mar 17, 2014 / Alison FrankThe Church of Paul Thomas Anderson
By the time he brought Revelation upon Los Angeles in the form of frog rain, Paul Thomas Anderson had already achieved a level of formal and thematic completeness in his body of work which is rare...
Jun 11, 2013 / Jack Welch‘To Rome With Love’: Unfairly Underrated
Audiences and critics alike seem to have a soft spot for nostalgia of late: witness the superlative praise lavished on “The Artist” (2011), which did little more than copy silent films of the past....
Oct 17, 2012 / Alison FrankWhat the US can learn from Willy Wonka
As any moviegoer knows, charismatic heroes of the screen often personify what we wish we could be or what we aspire to do. Legendary but believable heroes of film include Atticus Finch, Clarice...
Jul 23, 2012 / Charles H. WadeShyam Benegal at the British Film Institute
Over the weekend of the 9 th -10 th June, the BFI is honouring Shyam Benegal, one of India’s leading directors. Considered one of the founders of India’s ‘New Wave’, Benegal began his film career in...
Jun 5, 2012 / Alison Frank25 years later, ‘Adventures in Babysitting’ stands apart in the teen comedy genre
Given the recent surge of 1980s popular culture nostalgia, discussions of that decade’s iconic films unfailingly revert to the unique 1980s teen comedy genre, always dominated by the catalog of John...
Apr 26, 2012 / Charles H. WadeStanley Kubrick: Master of Contradictions
Who are the great American film directors? More to the point, who do we think are the great American film directors? Well, there’s Ford, of course, the Zeus of the American pantheon, by turns comic,...
Apr 9, 2012 / Graham DaselerContest: Win ‘Being Flynn’ tickets, soundtrack, book!
More free stuff! All right, here’s the deal. The Moving Arts has teamed up with Focus Features again, this time to offer you the chance to win a prize pack in advance of the upcoming release of...
Feb 27, 2012 / Eric M. Armstrong‘The Descendants’: A loving portrait of the 1 percent
Ben Stiller’s 2001 male modeling comedy “Zoolander” was released just a few weeks after 9/11. It didn’t do well. The consensus was that a contemplative America wasn’t interested in such aggressive...
Feb 25, 2012 / Scott Armstrong‘Carnage’ slaughters dialogue with theatrics
Two of cinema’s key advantages as a medium are its mastery of space and time, and its impression of reality. These two traits are not necessarily related: after all, in reality we often find...
Feb 14, 2012 / Alison FrankNuance, subtext and poetry: A defense of ‘The Village’
Bryce Dallas Howard in "The Village" I feel sorry for M. Night Shyamalan. After “The Last Airbender” debacle and the graceless marketing scheme for “The Happening” as his first rated-R film, M. Night...
Feb 5, 2012 / Vanessa GranielloThe 10 best films of 2011
Ryan Gosling in Nicolas Winding Refn's "Drive" It’s that time of year again when we intrepid critics whittle down the hundreds of titles we’ve seen over the last 365 days to the top 10 that made us...
Jan 8, 2012 / Eric M. Armstrong‘The Tree of Life’ wins top honor at 15th Annual OFCS Awards
“The Tree of Life,” which led the Online Film Critics Society nominations with seven, was the big winner at the 15th Annual Online Film Critics Society Awards. The film took home the prize for Best...
Jan 3, 2012 / Eric M. ArmstrongDancing through hardship: Why ‘Happy Feet Two’ is better than you think
After five years to the day, George Miller continues his epic penguin odyssey in “Happy Feet Two,” and more than any recent film I have to say I’m befuddled and confused by the terrible reception it...
Dec 17, 2011 / Henry J. BaughRecent Articles
- Review: ‘A War’ explores war’s quiet, forgotten horrors
- TMA FilmCast #33 — Vera Chytilova and the Czech New Wave
- The fantasist: The comic art of Woody Allen
- Tribeca picks up North American rights to ‘Misery Loves Comedy’ at Sundance
- TMA FilmCast #32 — Alison Frank interviews Ana Geislerova
- ‘Grand Budapest Hotel’ tops Online Film Critics Awards
- TMA FilmCast #31 — Alison Frank reports from 67th Locarno Film Fest
- 5 ½ hour film dominates awards at Locarno
- Shorts at #Locarno67: meditation vs testing the audience’s patience
- ‘The Fool’: A modern propaganda film
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