https://themovingarts.com/Online semi-academic film journal featuring film reviews, movie news and essays centered on the cultural and societal impact of film.enhttps://themovingarts.com/review-a-war-explores-wars-quiet-forgotten-horrors/https://themovingarts.com/review-a-war-explores-wars-quiet-forgotten-horrors/Wed, 24 Feb 2016 00:00:00 +0000Eric M. ArmstrongMore than 14 years later and the war in Afghanistan is still going on. President Obama declared the end of U.S. military combat operations in Afghanistan in December of 2014, but 9,800 American...https://themovingarts.com/tma-filmcast-33-vera-chytilova-and-the-czech-new-wave/https://themovingarts.com/tma-filmcast-33-vera-chytilova-and-the-czech-new-wave/Sat, 14 Mar 2015 00:00:00 +0000Alison FrankTo discuss the British Film Institute’s retrospective on Czech New Wave director Vera Chytilova, Alison Frank is joined by critic Carmen Gray, author Peter Hames, and Michal Bregant director of the...https://themovingarts.com/the-fantasist-the-comic-art-of-woody-allen/https://themovingarts.com/the-fantasist-the-comic-art-of-woody-allen/Sat, 24 Jan 2015 00:00:00 +0000Graham DaselerEveryone 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...https://themovingarts.com/tribeca-picks-up-north-american-rights-to-misery-loves-comedy-at-sundance/https://themovingarts.com/tribeca-picks-up-north-american-rights-to-misery-loves-comedy-at-sundance/Sat, 24 Jan 2015 00:00:00 +0000Eric M. ArmstrongPark City, UT — Tribeca’s distribution arm, Tribeca Film announced Friday it has acquired North American rights to Kevin Pollak’s directorial debut “Misery Loves Comedy.” The film premiered the same...https://themovingarts.com/tma-filmcast-31-alison-frank-interviews-ana-geislerova/https://themovingarts.com/tma-filmcast-31-alison-frank-interviews-ana-geislerova/Tue, 20 Jan 2015 00:00:00 +0000Eric M. ArmstrongAlison Frank reports from London, where Czech actress Ana Geislerova was in attendance for the screening of ‘Honeymoon’, part of the Made in Prague Festival 2014. LISTEN!https://themovingarts.com/grand-budapest-hotel-tops-online-film-critics-awards/https://themovingarts.com/grand-budapest-hotel-tops-online-film-critics-awards/Tue, 16 Dec 2014 00:00:00 +0000Eric M. ArmstrongRalph Fiennes and Tony Revolori star in “The Grand Budapest Hotel.” / Photo: Fox Searchlight Wes Anderson’s gleeful, absurdist adventure “The Grand Budapest Hotel” took home top honors in the 2014...https://themovingarts.com/tma-filmcast-31-alison-frank-reports-from-67th-locarno-film-fest/https://themovingarts.com/tma-filmcast-31-alison-frank-reports-from-67th-locarno-film-fest/Mon, 13 Oct 2014 00:00:00 +0000Alison FrankAlison Frank reports from the 67th Locarno Film Festival, interviewing two directors from the international competition, Lucie Borleteau (“Fidélio, l’odyssée d’Alice”) and Andrea Staka (“Cure – The...https://themovingarts.com/5-½-hour-film-dominates-awards-at-locarno/https://themovingarts.com/5-½-hour-film-dominates-awards-at-locarno/Mon, 01 Sep 2014 00:00:00 +0000Alison FrankFrom What is Before , a 338-minute film by Filipino director Lav Diaz, has won the Golden Leopard, grand prize of the 67th Locarno Film Festival. The moody and atmospheric black-and-white film...https://themovingarts.com/shorts-at-locarno67-meditation-vs-testing-the-audiences-patience/https://themovingarts.com/shorts-at-locarno67-meditation-vs-testing-the-audiences-patience/Sat, 16 Aug 2014 00:00:00 +0000Alison FrankA guest blog from Mico Tatalovic When the representative of Single Stream , one of the shorts screened here, said ‘hope you enjoy our trashy movie’ I didn’t actually expect it to be about trash. Nor...https://themovingarts.com/the-fool-a-modern-propaganda-film/https://themovingarts.com/the-fool-a-modern-propaganda-film/Wed, 13 Aug 2014 00:00:00 +0000Alison FrankDima Nitikin is an honest plumber who lives with his wife and son in his parents’ apartment. Studying architecture in his spare time, he’s what you might call ambitious, but not by his mother’s...https://themovingarts.com/fidelio-lodyssee-dalice-at-sea-in-search-of-love/https://themovingarts.com/fidelio-lodyssee-dalice-at-sea-in-search-of-love/Tue, 12 Aug 2014 00:00:00 +0000Alison FrankA mechanic in the French navy, Alice (Ariane Labed) spends much of her life on board cargo ships. Her new boyfriend Félix, a Norwegian graphic novelist, waits patiently for her at home. She is called...https://themovingarts.com/shorts-at-locarno-2014-highlights-from-young-talent/https://themovingarts.com/shorts-at-locarno-2014-highlights-from-young-talent/Sun, 10 Aug 2014 00:00:00 +0000Alison FrankA screenshot from All we Share A guest post from Mico Tatalovic, in Locarno, Switzerland. Strolling through the narrow streets of Locarno, a picturesque lake-side town surrounded by the Alps, on the...https://themovingarts.com/silence-tells-the-story-in-ida/https://themovingarts.com/silence-tells-the-story-in-ida/Sun, 08 Jun 2014 00:00:00 +0000Vanessa GranielloThe alarming precision of nuns singing chromatically descending chants. The hollow, circular depression of earth on the grounds of the convent where a life-size statue of Jesus stands, and where Ida...https://themovingarts.com/cinema-at-the-margins-a-collection-of-online-criticism/https://themovingarts.com/cinema-at-the-margins-a-collection-of-online-criticism/Mon, 17 Mar 2014 00:00:00 +0000Alison FrankWheeler 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...https://themovingarts.com/12-years-a-slave-wins-big-at-ofcs-awards/https://themovingarts.com/12-years-a-slave-wins-big-at-ofcs-awards/Mon, 16 Dec 2013 00:00:00 +0000Eric M. ArmstrongThe Online Film Critics Society proudly announces the recipients of the 17th annual OFCS awards for excellence in film. Steven McQueen’s “12 Years a Slave” was the standout winner, with recognitions...https://themovingarts.com/tallgrass-film-festival-day-3-preview/https://themovingarts.com/tallgrass-film-festival-day-3-preview/Fri, 18 Oct 2013 00:00:00 +0000StaffFilms screen all day at the Orpheum Theatre, Scottish Rite, Central Library, Historical Museum, Garvey Center, Hotel at Old Town and the C.A.C. Theatre at WSU. Click here for Friday’s schedule . Be...https://themovingarts.com/drinking-buddies-review/https://themovingarts.com/drinking-buddies-review/Fri, 02 Aug 2013 00:00:00 +0000Eric M. ArmstrongSexual tension abounds between friends played by Olivia Wilde and Jake Johnson in “Drinking Buddies.” Photo: Magnolia Pictures If “When Harry Met Sally” (1989) is Nora Ephron’s take on Woody Allen,...https://themovingarts.com/documentarist-2013-means-more-in-light-of-gezi-resistance/https://themovingarts.com/documentarist-2013-means-more-in-light-of-gezi-resistance/Mon, 22 Jul 2013 00:00:00 +0000N. Buket CengizThe 6th Istanbul Documentary Days was blessed with an outstanding location for a documentary film festival: a park which has become a cause and a symbol of an urban uprising movement that has spread...https://themovingarts.com/les-invisibles-speaking-up-stepping-out/https://themovingarts.com/les-invisibles-speaking-up-stepping-out/Fri, 19 Jul 2013 00:00:00 +0000Alison FrankLes Invisibles does more than you’d expect of a documentary about elderly gay and lesbian people. I went into this film anticipating a series of interesting stories about individual lives, but this...https://themovingarts.com/before-midnight-unevenly-matched/https://themovingarts.com/before-midnight-unevenly-matched/Thu, 11 Jul 2013 00:00:00 +0000Alison FrankBefore Midnight offers a long-awaited update on the lives of Céline and Jesse, the couple who met on a train to Vienna in the 90s, then came together again in Paris the 2000s after Jesse wrote a book...https://themovingarts.com/black-rock-review/https://themovingarts.com/black-rock-review/Tue, 02 Jul 2013 00:00:00 +0000Vanessa GranielloMark Duplass and Katie Aselton surprised me with “Black Rock,” a lean, formidable thriller about survival and friendship. A husband and wife team, Mr. Duplass wrote the screenplay and Ms. Asleton...https://themovingarts.com/the-church-of-paul-thomas-anderson/https://themovingarts.com/the-church-of-paul-thomas-anderson/Tue, 11 Jun 2013 00:00:00 +0000Jack WelchBy 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...https://themovingarts.com/new-japanese-cinema-at-nippon-connection/https://themovingarts.com/new-japanese-cinema-at-nippon-connection/Thu, 16 May 2013 00:00:00 +0000Alison FrankFounded in 1999 by students at the University of Frankfurt, Germany, the Nippon Connection film festival has become the biggest platform for current Japanese cinema outside of Japan. The festival...https://themovingarts.com/farah-goes-bang-writerdirector-awarded-norah-ephron-prize-at-tribeca/https://themovingarts.com/farah-goes-bang-writerdirector-awarded-norah-ephron-prize-at-tribeca/Fri, 26 Apr 2013 00:00:00 +0000Eric M. ArmstrongNEW YORK — First-time writer/director Meera Menon (“Farah Goes Bang”) took home the inaugural Nora Ephron Prize at the 12th annual Tribeca Film Festival on Thursday. Menon was selected out of eight...https://themovingarts.com/focus-features-picks-up-jean-marc-vallees-dallas-buyers-club/https://themovingarts.com/focus-features-picks-up-jean-marc-vallees-dallas-buyers-club/Fri, 26 Apr 2013 00:00:00 +0000Eric M. ArmstrongNEW YORK — Focus Features has picked up the domestic and Latin American distribution rights to Jean-Marc Vallée’s “Dallas Buyers Club,” Focus CEO James Schamus and Focus president Andrew Karpen said...https://themovingarts.com/richard-iii-to-be-restored-in-4k/https://themovingarts.com/richard-iii-to-be-restored-in-4k/Fri, 26 Apr 2013 00:00:00 +0000Eric M. ArmstrongCULVER CITY, Calif. — A few months before the bones of Richard III were discovered below a parking lot in Leicester, England, the infamous British monarch was the focal point of a very different type...https://themovingarts.com/why-did-we-watch-amour/https://themovingarts.com/why-did-we-watch-amour/Tue, 26 Mar 2013 00:00:00 +0000Vanessa GranielloI am not fluent or even remotely familiar with the French language. But, after watching Michael Haneke’s “Amour” and listening to it play out four more times in the movie theater where I work, I...https://themovingarts.com/avant-garde-to-new-wave-czechoslovak-cinema-surrealism-and-the-sixties/https://themovingarts.com/avant-garde-to-new-wave-czechoslovak-cinema-surrealism-and-the-sixties/Tue, 26 Feb 2013 00:00:00 +0000Alison FrankThe French New Wave was not the only new wave of the 1960s: during a temporary loosening of the Communist regime’s hold on culture, Czechoslovakia had its own new wave that produced films just as...https://themovingarts.com/short-and-swede/https://themovingarts.com/short-and-swede/Tue, 19 Feb 2013 00:00:00 +0000Alison FrankGöteborg is the home of Scandinavia’s most important international film festival, offering one of the world’s most generous prizes: a Dragon Award of 1 million Swedish kronor (nearly 158 000 USD) for...https://themovingarts.com/props-from-paranorman-to-be-auctioned-off-for-charity/https://themovingarts.com/props-from-paranorman-to-be-auctioned-off-for-charity/Fri, 15 Feb 2013 00:00:00 +0000Eric M. ArmstrongLOS ANGELES -– Animation buffs, movie fans, and memorabilia collectors will all have the chance to own unique hand-crafted materials from Academy Award nominee, “ParaNorman.” The internet auction is...https://themovingarts.com/no-too-good-at-recreating-the-80s/https://themovingarts.com/no-too-good-at-recreating-the-80s/Thu, 07 Feb 2013 00:00:00 +0000Alison FrankIn 1988, Chile held a referendum to decide whether dictator Augusto Pinochet should stay in power. For one month, both sides could express their views in daily 15-minute TV slots. Pablo Larraín’s new...https://themovingarts.com/lincoln-leads-2013-oscar-race-with-12-noms/https://themovingarts.com/lincoln-leads-2013-oscar-race-with-12-noms/Thu, 10 Jan 2013 00:00:00 +0000Eric M. ArmstrongSteven Spielberg’s period drama about Abraham Lincoln’s noble quest to emancipate the slaves looms largest in the 2013 Oscar picture with 12 nominations. The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and...https://themovingarts.com/argo-takes-top-honors-at-the-16th-annual-ofcs-awards/https://themovingarts.com/argo-takes-top-honors-at-the-16th-annual-ofcs-awards/Tue, 08 Jan 2013 00:00:00 +0000Eric M. ArmstrongThe Online Film Critics Society has announced the winners of its 16th annual movie awards. The winners in each category are listed below: Best Picture “Argo” Best Director Paul Thomas Anderson (“The...https://themovingarts.com/obscure-objects-of-desire-surrealism-fetishism-and-politics/https://themovingarts.com/obscure-objects-of-desire-surrealism-fetishism-and-politics/Mon, 07 Jan 2013 00:00:00 +0000Alison FrankWas the surrealist ambition to revolutionise consciousness a natural fit with revolutionary politics? The relationship between art and politics has historically been problematic: witness the sterile,...https://themovingarts.com/lawrence-of-arabia-deserving-of-its-place-in-the-sun/https://themovingarts.com/lawrence-of-arabia-deserving-of-its-place-in-the-sun/Mon, 31 Dec 2012 00:00:00 +0000Alison FrankThis year marked the 50 th anniversary of David Lean’s Lawrence of Arabia . To mark the occasion, a digitally restored edition was released, and I had a chance to see it on the Empire Leicester...https://themovingarts.com/top-10-of-2012/https://themovingarts.com/top-10-of-2012/Mon, 24 Dec 2012 00:00:00 +0000Alison FrankAs we reach the end of an inspiring year for cinema, here are ten titles that stood out for me in 2012, and an explanation of why I chose each of them. Although I saw many of these at film festivals,...https://themovingarts.com/sound-of-my-voice-review/https://themovingarts.com/sound-of-my-voice-review/Fri, 30 Nov 2012 00:00:00 +0000Scott ArmstrongSometimes, maybe most of the time, ambiguous endings are cop-outs. The crime isn’t in subverting audience expectations—who wants movies without surprises?—but in betraying the stories themselves....https://themovingarts.com/2012-beneath-the-earth-film-fest-opens-selects-tma-critic-as-grand-juror/https://themovingarts.com/2012-beneath-the-earth-film-fest-opens-selects-tma-critic-as-grand-juror/Tue, 06 Nov 2012 00:00:00 +0000StaffThe 2012 Beneath the Earth Film Festival kicked off with an international selection of independent films Thursday. This year’s official selection, which includes films from the US, Taiwan, Germany...https://themovingarts.com/the-master-review/https://themovingarts.com/the-master-review/Mon, 05 Nov 2012 00:00:00 +0000Eric M. ArmstrongPaul Thomas Anderson has a taste for the epic. It was always there, from the sprawling spectacle of “Boogie Nights” (1997) to the experimental spider web narrative of “Magnolia” (1999) and the...https://themovingarts.com/disney-buys-lucasfilm-for-4-billion-plans-star-wars-7-for-2015/https://themovingarts.com/disney-buys-lucasfilm-for-4-billion-plans-star-wars-7-for-2015/Wed, 31 Oct 2012 00:00:00 +0000StaffGeorge Lucas, pen in hand, poses with Disney CEO Bog Iger before finalizing the historic deal (Photo: Rick Rowell, AP) Burbank, CA – The Walt Disney Company agreed Tuesday to acquire Lucasfilm Ltd....https://themovingarts.com/village-at-the-end-of-the-world-help-wanted/https://themovingarts.com/village-at-the-end-of-the-world-help-wanted/Mon, 22 Oct 2012 00:00:00 +0000Alison Frank“Village at the End of the World,” a documentary set in Greenland, presents some interesting similarities with “Eat Sleep Die,” the last film I reviewed. Both revolve around unemployment, and the...https://themovingarts.com/eat-sleep-die-asking-for-a-little-more/https://themovingarts.com/eat-sleep-die-asking-for-a-little-more/Sun, 21 Oct 2012 00:00:00 +0000Alison Frank“Eat Sleep Die” (“Äta sova dö,” dir. Gabriela Pichler), treats a topic of central concern in this time of financial crisis: unemployment. Set in a village in Sweden, the film revolves around...https://themovingarts.com/from-senegal-to-saudi-arabia-girls-working-for-change/https://themovingarts.com/from-senegal-to-saudi-arabia-girls-working-for-change/Fri, 19 Oct 2012 00:00:00 +0000Alison Frank“Wadjda” (Haifaa Al Mansour, 2012) and “Tall as the Baobab Tree” (“Grand comme le Baobab,” Jeremy Teicher, 2012) are set in far distant countries: the first in Saudi Arabia, the second in Senegal....https://themovingarts.com/to-rome-with-love-unfairly-underrated/https://themovingarts.com/to-rome-with-love-unfairly-underrated/Wed, 17 Oct 2012 00:00:00 +0000Alison FrankAudiences 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....https://themovingarts.com/bfi-london-film-festival-opening-reviews/https://themovingarts.com/bfi-london-film-festival-opening-reviews/Tue, 09 Oct 2012 00:00:00 +0000Alison FrankThe BFI London Film Festival 2012 starts tomorrow, and if you haven’t bought tickets yet, it’s not too late. There are still tickets left for many films, including the ones reviewed here. While...https://themovingarts.com/kelly-marcel-to-write-screenplay-for-adaptation-of-fifty-shads-of-grey/https://themovingarts.com/kelly-marcel-to-write-screenplay-for-adaptation-of-fifty-shads-of-grey/Mon, 08 Oct 2012 00:00:00 +0000StaffUNIVERSAL CITY, CA, October 8, 2012—Universal Pictures and Focus Features today announced that Kelly Marcel will write the screenplay to the highly anticipated film adaptation of “Fifty Shades of...https://themovingarts.com/werner-herzog-is-a-plastic-bag-in-ramin-bahrani-short-film/https://themovingarts.com/werner-herzog-is-a-plastic-bag-in-ramin-bahrani-short-film/Sun, 30 Sep 2012 00:00:00 +0000Eric M. ArmstrongRamin Bahrani, the New York-based auteur responsible for such indie darlings as “Chop Shop” (2007) and “Goodbye Solo” (2008) shot a curious little short in 2009 called “Plastic Bag.” It follows a...https://themovingarts.com/the-queen-of-versailles-a-call-for-revolution/https://themovingarts.com/the-queen-of-versailles-a-call-for-revolution/Mon, 24 Sep 2012 00:00:00 +0000Alison FrankThis documentary gives curious viewers a glimpse into the life of timeshare mogul David Siegel and his family. The titular ‘queen’ is Siegel’s wife Jacqueline, and Versailles is the monster home they...https://themovingarts.com/56th-bfi-london-film-festival-preview/https://themovingarts.com/56th-bfi-london-film-festival-preview/Sat, 22 Sep 2012 00:00:00 +0000Alison FrankAs public ticket sales for the BFI London Film Festival open Monday (24 September), the time is ripe for a preview blog. Having attended a number international film festivals this year, I’ve already...https://themovingarts.com/trailer-lincoln/https://themovingarts.com/trailer-lincoln/Sun, 16 Sep 2012 00:00:00 +0000Eric M. ArmstrongDirector: Steven Spielberg Writer: Tony Kushner Studio: DreamWorks Pictures Cast: Daniel Day-Lewis, Sally Field, David Strathairn Release: November 9, 2012