Wednesday, April 27, 2022

The Exorcist (USA: William Peter Blatty, 1973)

The Exorcist (USA: William Peter Blatty, 1973: 122 mins)

Acolytes of Horror. "How the Exorcist Keeps Its Distance." (Posted on Youtube: 2021)

D., Margo and Margo P. "The Exorcist." Book vs Movie (December 8, 2017)
["... 1971 novel The Exorcist written by the very interesting William Peter Blatty. Based on a true-ish story about a boy possessed by a demon in the 1950s Blatty changed some of the key details to create this fiction classic. Director William Friedkin in 1973 just came off an incredible spate of box office successes including 1971’s The French Connection giving him an Academy Award for Best Director. The Exorcist became the biggest financial success of his career but turned out to be something of a curse as well."]

Dietz, Eileen. "The Exorcist." I Was There Too (March 4, 2015) ["Things get spooky this week as Eileen Dietz, the face of the demon Pazuzu aka Captain Howdy joins Matt to chat about being in the most famous horror movie of all time, The Exorcist. Eileen tells us the differences between the roles of Pazuzu & Captain Howdy, channeling wild animals for her improvised audition, her process with all the prosthetics, particularly with the puking apparatus, and her book Exorcising My Demons."]

Graham, Jamie, et al. "Occult Pt. 10: The Exorcist (1973)." The Evolution of Horror (January 2, 2020)

"Rats In the Attic: William Friedkin’s The Exorcist." Cinephilia & Beyond (ND)

Murray, Noel. "William Friedkin and the Art of Immediacy." The Dissolve (May 1, 2014)

Wiggins, Steven A. "Nightmares with the Bible: The Good Book and Cinematic Demons (Horror and Scripture, 2020)." New Books in Biblical Studies (April 27, 2022) ["Nightmares with the Bible: The Good Book and Cinematic Demons (2021) published by Fortress Academic views demons through two lenses: that of western religion and that of cinema. Sketching out the long fear of demons in western history, including the Bible, Steve A. Wiggins moves on to analyze how popular movies inform our beliefs about demonic forces. Beginning with the idea of possession, he explores the portrayal of demons from ancient Mesopotamia and the biblical world (including in select extra-biblical texts), and then examines the portrayal of demons in popular horror franchises The Conjuring, The Amityville Horror, and Paranormal Activity. In the final chapter, Wiggins looks at movies that followed The Exorcist and offers new perspectives for viewing possession and exorcism. Written in non-technical language, this book is intended for anyone interested in how demons are perceived and how popular culture informs those perceptions."]










Monday, April 25, 2022

Jordan Peele (Ongoing Archive)

Get Out (2017)

Us (2019)

Nope (Forthcoming Summer 2022: Trailer)

Us (USA: Jordan Peele, 2019)

 




Films often ask performers to play multiple roles as something of a gimmick. It’s been done for comedic effect in something like “The Nutty Professor” or for philosophical examination in something like “The Double” or “Enemy.” No one has ever asked as much of a double performer as Jordan Peele asked of Lupita Nyong’o in “Us,” and the Oscar winner delivered one of the best performances of 2019 in return. As Adelaide’s worst fear comes to life and she witnesses the shadow version of her family sitting across the living room from her, the actress doesn’t just play good and evil – she goes much deeper than that. She sells both the depth behind the fear of who we presume is the “normal” Adelaide and the wounded monster who has been tied to her. For some reason, great acting has often become synonymous with either a great impersonation or a great couple of scenes. What’s most often ignored when we discuss acting is physicality. Watch what Nyong’o does with her body to both distinguish and tie the two versions of herself in “Us.” They are distinct and yet also mirrors of each other in so many ways. It’s the kind of performance one can break down scene by scene and appreciate with greater depth and nuance with each viewing. It’s not just a great 2019 performance, it’s an all-timer. (Brian Tallerico: December 23, 2019)

Us (USA: Jordan Peele, 2019: 116 mins)

Archer, Ina Diane. "Us." Film Comment (March 26, 2019)

Brody, Richard. "Jordan Peele's Us is a Colossal Cinematic Achievement." The New Yorker (March 23, 2019)

Castillo, Monica. "Us." Roger Ebert (March 20, 2019)

Due, Tannarive. "Us." Switchblade Sisters #165 (December 31, 2020) ["Tananarive Due, the producer of the groundbreaking doc ‘Horror Noire: A History of Black Horror,’ joins April Wolfe to discuss Jordan Peele’s ‘Us.’"]

Enzo and Eve. "Wakanda Deferred." Hammer & Camera #16 (July 12, 2019) ["Enzo and Eve of the Marxist "propaganda circle" Unity & Struggle to discuss their article, "Black on Both Sides: Grappling with BLM in Movies", and to review the past year of Black cinema. Among the films discussed are Black Panther, Blackkklansman, Sorry to Bother You, Blindspotting, and Us."]

Harrison, Sheri-Marie. "Us and Them." Commune (June 6, 2019) [On Jordan Peele's 2019 horror film Us.]

Koski, Genevieve, et al. "Double Troubles, Pt. 1 - Invasion of the Body Snatchers (1978)." The Next Picture Show #170 (April 2, 2019) ["Jordan Peele’s new US extends a long history of horror stories that use doppelgängers to explore identity, one that includes as a cornerstone Philip Kaufman’s 1978 adaptation of INVASION OF THE BODY SNATCHERS. This episode we delve into the film’s eerie version of San Francisco to talk about how its atmosphere of dread and late-‘70s malaise distinguishes it from other versions of this story, and amplifies the human drama within this classic alien-invasion narrative."]

---. "Double Troubles, Pt. 2 - Us." The Next Picture Show #171 (April 9, 2019) ["Our pairing of devious doppelgängers arrives at Jordan Peele’s new US, which brings into 2019 some of the same themes of paranoia and dread seen in one of its many predecessors, Philip Kaufman’s INVASION OF THE BODY SNATCHERS. After comparing our reactions to US’s “messy by design” narrative and the conversations that have sprung up around it, we bring these two films together to compare how they reflect their respective eras, how each works as horror, and the weird character relationships that underscore the human drama behind the allegory."]

McDonald, Soraya Nadia. "Jordan Peele’s Us has a message for those who can hear above the screams."  Andscape (March 22, 2019)

McMillan, Candice. "How Trump and #metoo Have Scared Us Into the New Decade." Chaz's Journal (March 10, 2020)


Robinson, Tasha. "Jordan Peele’s Us turns a political statement into unnerving horror." The Verge (March 22, 2019)

Yamato, Jen. "The ending of Us: Jordan Peele on who the real villains are." Los Angeles Times (March 22, 2019)













Thursday, April 21, 2022

Get Out (USA: Jordan Peele, 2017)




Get Out (USA: Jordan Peele, 2017: 103 mins)

Writer-director Jordan Peele announced himself as a gifted horror filmmaker straight out of the gate with his first feature, a hilarious satire of white liberalism in contemporary America that sits comfortably as a modern genre classic. The simple set up of young Black man Chris Washington (played memorably by Daniel Kaluuya) visiting his white girlfriend’s family is exquisitely handled to reveal deep-rooted racism. With Twilight Zone vibes, Peele crafts an ambience of paranoia and discomfort as Chris sinks deeper into a place where he feels like he is losing his mind, when in fact it is everyone around him who wants to steal it. A cutting social commentary on appropriation and ownership. – Katherine McLaughlin

Appen, Joe Von and Erik McClanahan. "Get Out / I Don't Feel at Home In This World." Adjust Your Tracking #141 (March 9, 2017)

Archer, Ina Diane. "Get Out." Film Comment (March 3, 2017)

Arıkan, Yağız. "Get Out." Film Critique (2018) ["When we see a horror film, we usually have a faint idea on the style or the content. We expect to be scared or surprised by a creepy clown, a monster or a killer. In the horror film "Get Out" by Jordan Peele, we do get surprised, not by one of the mentioned above but with an unexpected message on racism, and on our society. In this video, I explain how this message is portrayed, and if he really stays true to the roots of the horror genre."]

Bakare, Lanra. "Get Out: The Film That Dares to Reveal Liberal Racism in America." The Guardian (February 28, 2017)

Breznican, Anthony. "Black Storytellers Are Using Horror to Battle Hate." Vanity Fair (August 3, 2020) ["After Get Out, movies such as Antebellum, the upcoming Candyman retelling, and other tales of terror and the macabre are part of a cultural exorcism centuries in the making."]

Butler, Bethonie. "The Brilliant Casting of Jordan Peele's Get Out." The Washington Post (March 9, 2017)

Chack, Erin. "22 Secrets Hidden in Get Out That You May Have Missed." Buzz Feed (March 3, 2017)

Colburn, Randall. "Horror and Race: How Jordan Peele’s Get Out Flips the Script." CoS (February 26, 2017)

Daniel, James Rushing. "'Another One for the Fire': George A. Romero on Race." The Los Angeles Review of Books (July 25, 2017)

Dargis, Manohla and A.O. Scott. "One Nation Under a Movie Theater? It's a Myth." The New York Times (September 7, 2017)  ["Hollywood wants us to think that its films are for everyone, but our critics say that was never true. Still, they see a way forward."]

Dowd, A.A. "Jordan Peele shifts from comedy to horror with the smart, cutting Get Out." A.V. Club (February 23, 2017)

"Get Out Syllabus."

Hancock, James, Mikhail Karadimov and Marcus Pinn. "Jordan Peele's Get Out & The Social Thriller." Wrong Reel #238 (February 28, 2017)

Harris, Brandon. "The Giant Leap Forward of Jordan Peele's Get Out." The New Yorker (March 4, 2017)

Harris, Cydnii Wilde. "Get Out as the Horror Black Films Face in the Foreign Market." (Posted on Youtube: March 14, 2018)

Hoberman, J."A Real American Horror Story." The New York Review of Books (March 13, 2017)


Hughes, Brooke Dianne-Mae. "Our Sunken Place: 'Post-Racial' America in Jordan Peele's Get Out." M.A. Thesis for the Department of English at State University of New York at Buffalo, NY: June 2018.

Jones, Matthew. "Politicizing the Horrific: How American Anxieties Play Out on Screen." Philosophy in Film (March 25, 2017)

"Jordan Peele: The Art of the Social Thriller." BAM (Film series curated by the director: February/March 2017)

Keetley, Dawn. "Get Out: Political Horror." Jordan Peele's Get Out: Political Horror. The Ohio State University Press, 2020: 1-22. 

Mooney, Shannon. "Sticking to the Script: Constructions of Sonic Whiteness in Get Out and Sorry to Bother You." Supernatural Studies 7.2 (131-154) ["This article places Jordan Peele’s Get Out (2017) into conversation with Boots Riley’s Sorry to Bother You (2018) in order to explore how both films represent whiteness as a penetrative sonic force that can be both heard and recognized. I explore how these two films challenge the popular notion that whiteness, unlike Blackness, is an empty and neutral signifier; instead, these films present whiteness as a racial category that possesses distinct sonic registers. Through their engagements with neoslavery, minstrelsy, and racial passing, these films parody the ways that Blackness has become socially and culturally constructed as “sounding” a certain way, and instead depict whiteness as something that can be aurally recognized and imitated. Through probing at their constructions of sonic whiteness, both Get Out and Sorry to Bother You problematize how popular audiences have been trained to hear (as well as see) race and respond to a longer history of the racialization of sound."]

Morris, Wesley and Jenna Wortham. "Get OutS-Town, and What To Do With Our Racial Past." Still Processing (April 13, 2017)

Nolan, Amy. "The Sunken Place and the 'Electronic Elsewhere' of Jordan Peele’s Get Out." Supernatural Studies 7.2 (2022) ["One of the most compelling uses of analog technology in
contemporary horror thus far is Jordan Peele’s use of the television as reflection of and portal to the Sunken Place in Get Out (2017). From the time that the television was invented, the combination of sound and image has magnified the ghostly possibilities of reproduction. According to Jeffrey Sconce, “the paradox of visible, seemingly material worlds trapped in a box in the living room and yet conjured out of nothing more than electricity and air, [wherein] the ‘electronic elsewhere’ generated by television was thus more palpable and yet every bit as phantasmic the occult empires of previous media’” (126). Peele shows us the “electronic elsewhere” by connecting the Sunken Place to the analog television set as a signifier of protagonist Chris Washington’s repressed memory of his mother’s death. The television becomes an extension of the national nightmare and personal trauma that overshadow Chris’s adult life. Get Out is a distinctive, twenty-first century story, yet it draws from earlier horror films that focus on humanity’s relationship with technology."]

Novak, A.M. "Not Your Trophy: Deer Imagery in Jordan Peele's Get Out." Vague Visages (March 22, 2017)

O'Falt, Chris. "The Best Cast Films of 2017, According to Top Casting Directors." IndieWire (December 4, 2017) ["15 casting directors explain the brilliance behind their peers’ work in “Lady Bird,” “Get Out,” “The Post,” "The Shape of Water," and more."]

Oliver, Toby. "Interview with Get Out Cinematographer." Following Films (March 7, 2017)

Parham, Jason. "Get Out Proves The Only Way To Battle White Supremacy Is To Kill It." Fader (March 8, 2017)

Pasternack, Jesse. "Beneath the Paving Stones, the Nightmares!: American Social Thrillers of the 1960s." A Place for Film (February 5, 2018)

Peele, Jordan. "Jordan Peele Gets Into Horror." Still Following (March 2, 2017) ["It’s not hard to explain the premise of “Get Out.” A woman (Allison Williams) takes her boyfriend (Daniel Kaluuya) home to meet her parents (Catherine Keener and Bradley Whitford). He’s black, she and her parents are white — like, liberal white, good white. They’re totally down. What’s complicated to talk about with this film — the No. 1 movie in the country, by the way — is where the racial horror and the comedy take us and where they come from. It’s funny, scary, shocking and sad."]

Phillips, Maya. "Sorry to Bother You and the New Black Surrealism." Slate (July 18, 2018) ["Like Get Out and Atlanta, Boots Riley’s gonzo satire realizes the best way to depict black people’s reality is to depart from it."]

Phipps, Keith, Tasha Robinson and Scott Tobias. "Get Out / People Under the Stairs (Pt. 1)." The Next Picture Show #66 (March 7, 2017)

---. "Get Out / People Under the Stairs (Pt. 2)." The Next Picture Show #67 (March 9, 2017)

Pott, Julia. "My Mom's Amazing Voicemail Review of Get Out." Talkhouse (May 10, 2017)

Ratcliff, Travis Lee. "The Legacy of Paranoid Thrillers." (Posted on Vimeo: June 2017) ["Paranoid thrillers are constant in cinema's history, but at any given moment they reflect our specific anxieties back to us and reveal how we feel about our institutions. Here, I explore how paranoid thrillers crystalized as a genre in American cinema and examine the possibility of a contemporary renaissance in conspiracy fiction."]

Subissati, Andrea and Alexandra West. "Where is My Mind: The Stepford Wives (1975) and Get Out (2017)." The Faculty of Horror #67 (November 27, 2018) ["This month, Andrea and Alex tackle two films whose hearts lie in the darkest, most secret parts of suburban utopia. In Bryan Forbes’ The Stepford Wives and Jordan Peele’s Get Out, we follow protagonists who are socialized to make room for the privileged and examine what happens when they strike back."]

Wynter, Kevin. Critical Race Theory and Jordan Peele's Get Out. Bloomsbury, 2022. ["This book provides a concise introduction to critical race theory and shows how this theory can be used to interpret Jordan Peele's Get Out. It surveys recent developments in critical race studies and introduces key concepts that have helped shape the field such as Black masculinity, white privilege, the Black body, and miscegenation. The book's analysis of Get Out situates it within the context of the American horror film, illustrating how contemporary debates in critical race theory and approaches to the analysis of mainstream Hollywood cinema can illuminate each other. In this way, the book provides both an accessible reference guide to key terminology in critical race studies and film studies, while contributing new scholarship to both fields."]

Yancy, George. "Whiteness as Ambush and the Transformative Power of Vigilance." Black Bodies, White Gazes: The Continuing Significance of Race. Rowan and Littlefield, 2008: 227-247.




































Monday, April 18, 2022

Céline Sciamma (Ongoing Archive)


Water Lillies (2007)

Tomboy (2011)

Girlhood (2014) 

Portrait of a Lady on Fire (2019)

Petite Maman (2021)

Girlhood (France: Céline Sciamma, 2014)

 



Girlhood (France: Céline Sciamma, 2014: 113 mins)

Batuman, Elif. "Céline Sciamma's Quest for a New, Feminist Grammar of Cinema." The New Yorker (January 31, 2022)

Brown, William. "Girlhood is remarkable – a film brimming with messages of empowerment." The Conversation (May 7, 2015)

Galibert-Laîné, Chloé. "Why Framing Matters in Movies." (Posted on Vimeo: 2017)

Harris, Sue. "Film of the Week: Girlhood." Sight and Sound (December 14, 2015)

Salmon, Caspar. "The Action Cinema of Céline Sciamma." The Notebook (February 18, 2022)

Kohn, Eric. "Céline Sciamma's Girlhood Is One of the Best Coming of Age Movies In Years." Indiewire (May 15, 2014)

Scott, A.O. "Exploring the Limits in a Man’s World: In Girlhood, a French Adolescent Comes Out of Her Shell." The New York Times (January 3, 2015)

Wilson, Emma. "Scenes of Hurt and Rapture: Céline Sciamma's Girlhood." Film Quarterly 70.3 (Spring 2017): 10-22.
















Thursday, April 14, 2022

Tomboy (France: Céline Sciamma, 2011)





 Tomboy (France: Céline Sciamma, 2011: 84 mins)


"A sensitive, heartrending portrait of what it feels like to grow up different, Sciamma’s beautifully observed coming-of-age tale aches tenderly with the tangled confusion of childhood. When 10-year-old Laure’s family moves to a new neighborhood during the summer, the gender-nonconforming preteen (played by the impressively naturalistic Zoé Héran) takes the opportunity to present as Mickäel to the neighborhood kids—testing the waters of a new identity that neither friends nor family quite understand. Sciamma’s warmly empathetic tone is perfectly complemented by the soft-lit impressionism of Fournier’s glowing cinematography." - "The Female Gaze" (2018)

Batuman, Elif. "Céline Sciamma's Quest for a New, Feminist Grammar of Cinema." The New Yorker (January 31, 2022)

Chang, Chris. "Short Takes: Tomboy." Film Comment (November-December 2011)

Ebert, Roger. "This may form her adulthood, or just be forgotten." Chicago Sun-Times (January 25, 2012)


Holt, Julian. "Transmasculine Identities And The Paradox Of Language: Tomboy, A Reflection." Radical Art Review (July 18, 2021)

Klinghoffer, Ariel. "The radical queer politics and bittersweet legacy of Tomboy." Little White Lies (April 18, 2021)

Salmon, Caspar. "The Action Cinema of Céline Sciamma." The Notebook (February 18, 2022)

Temple, Melissa Bow. "It's Okay to Be Neither." Together for Jackson County Kids (December 16, 2011)












Tuesday, April 12, 2022

Dune (Part 1 - USA/Canada: Denis Villeneuve, 2021)





 Dune (Part 1 - USA/Canada: Denis Villeneuve, 2021: 155 mins)

Ahuja, Nitin K. "Medicine." Los Angeles Review of Books (March 27, 2022)

Armstrong, Vanessa. "For Dune, Composer Hans Zimmer Created Beats That Were 'Humanly Impossible to Play.'" Tor (March 2, 2022)

Baheyeldin, Khalid, et al. "The Book of Dune." Imaginary Worlds (July 12, 2017) ["Frank Herbert’s 1965 novel Dune and its sequels tackled a lot of big themes. The books are about ecology. They’re about journeys of self-realization through mind-altering substances. But religion is at the core of the series, since the main character Paul Atreides transforms from a teenage aristocrat into a messianic revolutionary leader of a nomadic desert tribe. And the real world religion that Frank Herbert borrows from the most is Islam. Khalid Baheyeldin, Salman Sayyid, and Sami Shah discuss why the book resonated deeply with them, despite the fact that Frank Herbert wasn’t Muslim. And Liel Liebowitz explains why the novel even spoke to him as an Israeli."]

Breen, Benjamin. "Pharmacology." The Los Angeles Review of Books (March 27, 2022)

Dick, Stephanie. "Computers." The Los Angeles Review of Books (March 27, 2022)

Dietrich, Christopher. "Harvesting." The Los Angeles Review of Books (March 27, 2022)

Dolan, Thomas Simsarian. "Decolonizing Dune: Reimagining MENA and the Muslim World." Tropics of Meta (December 21, 2021)

Durrani, Haris A. "Sietchposting: A Short Guide to Recent Work on Dune." Los Angeles Review of Books (March 27, 2022)

Hadadi, Roxana. "Dune Has a Desert Problem." Vulture (October 29, 2021)

Hudson, David. "Denis Villeneuve's Dune." The Daily (September 16, 2021)

---. "Dune: Beware of Heroes." The Daily (November 2, 2021)

Like Stories of Old. "Into the Dark Depths of Humanity – Understanding Denis Villeneuve." (Posted on Youtube: October 31, 2021) ["A deep dive analysis of the filmmaking philosophy of Denis Villeneuve, and of the themes and meanings found in his work."]

Moore, Taylor M. "Ethnography." Los Angeles Review of Books (March 27, 2022)

Nuriddin, Ayah. "Eugenics." Los Angeles Review of Books (Marhc 27, 2022)

Shakry, Omnia El. "Language." Los Angeles Review of Books (March 27, 2022)













Blade Runner 2049 (UK/USA/Canada: Denis Villeneuve, 2017)





Blade Runner 2049 (UK/USA/Canada: Denis Villeneuve, 2017: 163 mins) 

Aisenberg, Joseph. "I am Blade Runner 2049Blade Runner 2049 is I." Bright Lights Film Journal (November 3, 2017)

Alpert, Robert. "A.I. at the Movies and the Second Coming." Senses of Cinema #88 (October 2018)

Desowitz, Bill. "Why Roger Deakins Should Win the Oscar for Bringing Realism to Blade Runner 2049." IndieWire (October 5, 2017)

"Dive Deeper into Blade Runner 2049 with Roger Deakins, ASC, BSC." American Cinematographer (March 5, 2018)

Engley, Ryan and Todd McGowan. "Blade Runner 2049." Why Theory (October 23, 2017) ["In this episode, Todd and Ryan discuss Denis Villeneuve's Blade Runner 2049. The conversation centers around how the film depicts ideology and what we mean when we say "ideology"; how the film conceives of desire ensuring subjectivity; and how the relationship between police and capital in the film exposes a link to how the two function in everyday life."]

Fox, Neil and Dario Linares. "Blade Runner 2049." The Cinematologists (October 18, 2017) ["With the original Blade Runner being a formative film for both Dario and Neil, they take the time to discuss the 2017 sequel directed by Denis Villeneuve: Blade Runner 2049. A lot has been said and written about this new incarnation, directly about the aesthetics, philosophical themes and narrative, but also regarding the wider ideological readings related to gender, race and class. We hope you enjoy our contribution to the discourse around a film which, if nothing else, reminds us of cinema's ability to provoke thought and exercise passion."]

Gerwig, Greta, et al. "63 Minute Directors Roundtable Talk." The Hollywood Reporter (Posted on Playlist: January 22, 2018) ["Angelina Jolie (“First They Killed My Father”), Patty Jenkins (“Wonder Woman”), Greta Gerwig (“Lady Bird”), Joe Wright (“Darkest Hour”), Guillermo del Toro (“The Shape of Water”), and Denis Villeneuve (“Blade Runner 2049”)."]

Jagernauth, Kevin. "Blade Runner 2049 Editor Talks Deleted Scenes You’ll Probably Never See." The Playlist (October 30, 2017)

"Jared Leto Stars in a New Prequel to Blade Runner 2049: Watch It Free Online." Open Culture (August 31, 2017)

Koski, Genvieve, et al. "Blade Runner 2049 (2017) / Blade Runner (1982), Part 1." The Next Picture Show #98 (October 17, 2017)

---. "Blade Runner 2049 (2017) / Blade Runner (1982), Part 2." The Next Picture Show #99 (October 19, 2017)

Laczkowski, Jim, et al. "Denis Villeneuve." The Director's Club #140 (December 17, 2017) ["Now Playing Network Master of Ceremonies (and Director's Club founder) Jim Laczkowski joins us for this episode which has us looking at the films of French Canadian filmmaker Denis Villeneuve! With Jim's help, we look at how Villeneuve brings his unique combination of thoughtfulness, pathos, family focus, and strangeness to dramas, genre thrillers, and films across the sci-fi spectrum. Includes lots of spiders and one talking fish."]

Landsberg, Alison. "What's So Bad About Being a Replicant?" On the Media (October 6, 2017)

Like Stories of Old. "In Search of the Distinctively Human: The Philosophy of Blade Runner 2049." (Posted on Youtube: Jan 29, 2018) [Uses Ernest Becker's The Birth and Death of Meaning and Viktor Frankl's Man's Search for Meaning.]

---. "The Problem of Other Minds – How Cinema Explores Consciousness." (Posted on Youtube: May 31, 2018) ["How have films engaged the problem of other minds? In this video essay, I discuss cinematic explorations into consciousness in the context of the cognitive revolution that has challenged many of the basic assumptions about what was for a long time believed to be a uniquely human trait." Uses Frans de Waal's book Are We Smart Enough to Know How Smart Animals Are?: "Hailed as a classic, Are We Smart Enough to Know How Smart Animals Are? explores the oddities and complexities of animal cognition--in crows, dolphins, parrots, sheep, wasps, bats, chimpanzees, and bonobos--to reveal how smart animals really are, and how we've underestimated their abilities for too long. Did you know that octopuses use coconut shells as tools, that elephants classify humans by gender and language, and that there is a young male chimpanzee at Kyoto University whose flash memory puts that of humans to shame? Fascinating, entertaining, and deeply informed, de Waal's landmark work will convince you to rethink everything you thought you knew about animal--and human--intelligence."]

Fox, Neil and Dario Linares. "Blade Runner 2049." The Cinematologists (October 18, 2017) ["With the original Blade Runner being a formative film for both Dario and Neil, they take the time to discuss the 2017 sequel directed by Denis Villeneuve: Blade Runner 2049. A lot has been said and written about this new incarnation, directly about the aesthetics, philosophical themes and narrative, but also regarding the wider ideological readings related to gender, race and class. We hope you enjoy our contribution to the discourse around a film which, if nothing else, reminds us of cinema's ability to provoke thought and exercise passion."]

Maher, Michael. "How Roger Deakins Shot and Lit Blade Runner 2049." The Beat (October 16, 2017)

Rosenberg, Alyssa. "‘Blade Runner 2049’ is about learning that you’re not the main character in your own story." The Washington Post (October 17, 2017)

StudioBinder. "Denis Villeneuve & His Cinema of Ambiguity — Directing Styles Explained." (Posted on Youtube: April 6, 2020) ["Denis Villeneuve movies are made to confuse you. At every opportunity — in the story, in the cinematography, editing, and music, Villeneuve wants to keep you guessing. Watching Denis Villeneuve movies is to be placed in an environment of uncertainty. And that’s what makes them so interesting. In films like Enemy, Prisoners, Polytechnique, Blade Runner 2049, and Arrival, Villeneuve consistently creates awe and wonder with images and sounds we’ve never seen before. In Enemy, Adam (Jake Gyllenhaal) must confront the possibility that he is more than a single person. In Sicario, Kate (Emily Blunt) is pushed into the world of drug cartels by a tight-lipped company man (Josh Brolin) and a near-silent assassin (Benicio Del Toro). In Prisoners, Keller (Hugh Jackman) ventures into murky moral territory to find his kidnapped daughter. In Arrival, Louise (Amy Adams) and Ian (Jeremy Renner) are tasked with bridging the communication gap between beings from another dimension. In all these movies, the characters find themselves in new worlds without answers. In this video, we’ve cracked the code on Villeneuve’s love of ambiguity and we explain how his directing style works across 7 areas of focus including sound, color, production design, and more. Villeneuve creates movies that can be enigmatic but there’s no denying that he is a film artist in complete control of his medium. If you’re studying directing, cinematography, editing, or pursuing ANY career in filmmaking, there are a ton of lessons to be learned from Denis Villeneuve. This is the ultimate breakdown of Denis Villeneuve’s directing style."]

Werff, Tom Van Der. "The best thing about Blade Runner 2049 is what it isn’t." Vox (October 9, 2017)














Arrival (USA: Denis Villeneuve, 2016)

 





Arrival (USA: Denis Villeneuve, 2016: 116 mins)

Adams, Amy, et al. "Watch Isabelle Huppert, Emma Stone, Amy Adams & More Discuss Acting in 50-Minute Roundtable."  Film Stage (January 30, 2017) [" Isabelle Huppert (Elle), Emma Stone (La La Land), Amy Adams (Arrival), Natalie Portman (Jackie), Naomie Harris (Moonlight), Annette Bening (20th Century Women), and Taraji P. Henson (Hidden Figures)."]

Art of the Title. "Know Your 2017 Below-the-Line Oscar Nominees." The Film Stage (January 30, 2017) ["The major below-the-line categories are Cinematography, Production Design, Sound Editing/Mixing, Visual Effects, Costume Design, and Makeup and Hairstyling . On the best productions (including those that the Academy labels Best Picture), the work of these crucial visual elements often blend together so seamlessly that it's hard to pick their creators' work.Thankfully, Art of The Film has created a series of supercuts called Oscars in One Minute that isolate the work of these artists so we can fully recognize their importance and beauty within each respective production."]

Buckley, Cara. "Denis Villeneuve of Arrival Leans Into Strong Heroines." The New York Times (November 13, 2016)

Cassidy, Brendan, J.D. Duran and Richard Newby. "Arrival, Top 3 "Thinking" Sci-Fi Movies, The Deathly Hallows Part 2 ." InSession Film (November 15, 2016)

Chiang, Ted. "Story of Your Life." (Original novella published in 1998 in Starlight 2 that the film is adapted from)

Desowitz, Bill. " How Composer Jóhann Jóhannsson Found a New Musical Language for Denis Villeneuve’s Arrival." IndieWire (November 21, 2016)

Eggert, Brian. "Arrival (2016)." Deep Focus Review (November 11, 2016)

Jones, Matthew. "Arrival (2016): Will We Understand Aliens When (If) They Arrive?" Philosophy in Film (December 18, 2019)

Kermode, Mark. "Arrival: A Poetic Vision of Contact With Aliens." The Guardian (November 13, 2016)

Koski, Genevieve, et al. "Contact / Arrival. Pt. 1." The Next Picture Show (November 29, 2016) ["This week, we look to the skies to consider two films about the difficulty of communication between worlds, and the inward journeys involved in looking to the stars. Inspired by Denis Villeneuve’s new ARRIVAL, we begin with an in-depth discussion of an earlier film with which it shares many thematic and narrative elements: Robert Zemeckis' 1997 Carl Sagan adaptation CONTACT. We consider the film’s ambition, dissect its blockbuster qualities, and try to determine what makes this unwieldy, emotional movie work so well, almost despite itself. (Spoiler: It’s mostly Jodie Foster.)"]

---. "Contact / Arrival, Pt. 2." The Next Picture Show (December 1, 2016) ["Our conversation about movies about talking to aliens moves to the present with Denis Villeneuve’s new ARRIVAL, which hits many of the same narrative points as CONTACT, but points them in a different emotional direction. We talk about our reactions to the newer film, and how its ideas about science, communication, and emotion compare with CONTACT’s."]

Laczkowski, Jim, et al. "Denis Villeneuve." The Director's Club #140 (December 17, 2017) ["Now Playing Network Master of Ceremonies (and Director's Club founder) Jim Laczkowski joins us for this episode which has us looking at the films of French Canadian filmmaker Denis Villeneuve! With Jim's help, we look at how Villeneuve brings his unique combination of thoughtfulness, pathos, family focus, and strangeness to dramas, genre thrillers, and films across the sci-fi spectrum. Includes lots of spiders and one talking fish."]

Lane, Anthony. "The Consuming Fervor of Arrival." The New Yorker (November 14, 2016)

Mayer, Sophie. "Girl Power: Back to the Future of Feminist Science Fiction with Into the Forest and Arrival." Film Quarterly 70.3 (Spring 2017): 32-42.

Muller, and Nate Zoebl. "Arrival (2016)." Psycho Drive-In (November 13, 2016)

Roark, David. "Alien and Time: The Philosophy of Arrival." Balder & Dash (December 8, 2016)

Statt, Nick. "How the short story that inspired Arrival helps us interpret the film’s major twist." The Verge (November 16, 2016)

StudioBinder. "Denis Villeneuve & His Cinema of Ambiguity — Directing Styles Explained." (Posted on Youtube: April 6, 2020) ["Denis Villeneuve movies are made to confuse you. At every opportunity — in the story, in the cinematography, editing, and music, Villeneuve wants to keep you guessing. Watching Denis Villeneuve movies is to be placed in an environment of uncertainty. And that’s what makes them so interesting. In films like Enemy, Prisoners, Polytechnique, Blade Runner 2049, and Arrival, Villeneuve consistently creates awe and wonder with images and sounds we’ve never seen before. In Enemy, Adam (Jake Gyllenhaal) must confront the possibility that he is more than a single person. In Sicario, Kate (Emily Blunt) is pushed into the world of drug cartels by a tight-lipped company man (Josh Brolin) and a near-silent assassin (Benicio Del Toro). In Prisoners, Keller (Hugh Jackman) ventures into murky moral territory to find his kidnapped daughter. In Arrival, Louise (Amy Adams) and Ian (Jeremy Renner) are tasked with bridging the communication gap between beings from another dimension. In all these movies, the characters find themselves in new worlds without answers. In this video, we’ve cracked the code on Villeneuve’s love of ambiguity and we explain how his directing style works across 7 areas of focus including sound, color, production design, and more. Villeneuve creates movies that can be enigmatic but there’s no denying that he is a film artist in complete control of his medium. If you’re studying directing, cinematography, editing, or pursuing ANY career in filmmaking, there are a ton of lessons to be learned from Denis Villeneuve. This is the ultimate breakdown of Denis Villeneuve’s directing style."]












 Denis Villeneuve Through Glass || Video Essay from Mikolaj Kacprzak on Vimeo.









 Video Essay #6 - Words and Love in Arrival from Lukas Grevis on Vimeo.

















































Monday, April 11, 2022

Sicario (USA: Denis Villeneuve, 2015)





 Sicario (USA: Denis Villeneuve, 2015: 121 mins)

Deakins, Roger. "Sicario." DP30 (November 14, 2015)

Foley, Darren. "Sicario: Film Analysis." Must See Films (Posted on Youtube: March 28, 2016)

Laczkowski, Jim, et al. "Denis Villeneuve." The Director's Club #140 (December 17, 2017) ["Now Playing Network Master of Ceremonies (and Director's Club founder) Jim Laczkowski joins us for this episode which has us looking at the films of French Canadian filmmaker Denis Villeneuve! With Jim's help, we look at how Villeneuve brings his unique combination of thoughtfulness, pathos, family focus, and strangeness to dramas, genre thrillers, and films across the sci-fi spectrum. Includes lots of spiders and one talking fish."]

Lane, Anthony. "Dark Places: Sicario." The New Yorker (September 21, 2015)

Orr, Christopher. "The Almost Greatness of Sicario." The Atlantic (September 25, 2015)

Scott, A.O. "Sicario Digs Into the Depths of Drug Cartel Violence." The New York Times (September 17, 2015)

StudioBinder. "Denis Villeneuve & His Cinema of Ambiguity — Directing Styles Explained." (Posted on Youtube: April 6, 2020) ["Denis Villeneuve movies are made to confuse you. At every opportunity — in the story, in the cinematography, editing, and music, Villeneuve wants to keep you guessing. Watching Denis Villeneuve movies is to be placed in an environment of uncertainty. And that’s what makes them so interesting. In films like Enemy, Prisoners, Polytechnique, Blade Runner 2049, and Arrival, Villeneuve consistently creates awe and wonder with images and sounds we’ve never seen before. In Enemy, Adam (Jake Gyllenhaal) must confront the possibility that he is more than a single person. In Sicario, Kate (Emily Blunt) is pushed into the world of drug cartels by a tight-lipped company man (Josh Brolin) and a near-silent assassin (Benicio Del Toro). In Prisoners, Keller (Hugh Jackman) ventures into murky moral territory to find his kidnapped daughter. In Arrival, Louise (Amy Adams) and Ian (Jeremy Renner) are tasked with bridging the communication gap between beings from another dimension. In all these movies, the characters find themselves in new worlds without answers. In this video, we’ve cracked the code on Villeneuve’s love of ambiguity and we explain how his directing style works across 7 areas of focus including sound, color, production design, and more. Villeneuve creates movies that can be enigmatic but there’s no denying that he is a film artist in complete control of his medium. If you’re studying directing, cinematography, editing, or pursuing ANY career in filmmaking, there are a ton of lessons to be learned from Denis Villeneuve. This is the ultimate breakdown of Denis Villeneuve’s directing style."]

Tallerico, Brian. "Sicario." Roger Ebert (September 15, 2015)





































Denis Villeneuve (Ongoing Archive)

 


August 32nd on Earth (1998)

Maelstrom (2000)

Polytechnique (2009)

Incendies (2010)

Enemy (2013)

Prisoners (2013)

Sicario (2015)

Arrival (2016)

Blade Runner 2049 (2017)

Dune (2021)

Prisoners (USA: Denis Villeneuve, 2013)

 Prisoners (USA: Denis Villeneuve, 2013: 153 mins)


Foley, Darren. "Prisoners: 'Pray for the Best, Prepare for the Worst.'" Must See Films (Posted on Vimeo: 2014)

Laczkowski, Jim, et al. "Denis Villeneuve."  The Director's Club #140 (December 17, 2017) ["Now Playing Network Master of Ceremonies (and Director's Club founder) Jim Laczkowski joins us for this episode which has us looking at the films of French Canadian filmmaker Denis Villeneuve! With Jim's help, we look at how Villeneuve brings his unique combination of thoughtfulness, pathos, family focus, and strangeness to dramas, genre thrillers, and films across the sci-fi spectrum. Includes lots of spiders and one talking fish."]

StudioBinder. "Denis Villeneuve & His Cinema of Ambiguity — Directing Styles Explained." (Posted on Youtube: April 6, 2020) ["Denis Villeneuve movies are made to confuse you. At every opportunity — in the story, in the cinematography, editing, and music, Villeneuve wants to keep you guessing. Watching Denis Villeneuve movies is to be placed in an environment of uncertainty. And that’s what makes them so interesting. In films like Enemy, Prisoners, Polytechnique, Blade Runner 2049, and Arrival, Villeneuve consistently creates awe and wonder with images and sounds we’ve never seen before. In Enemy, Adam (Jake Gyllenhaal) must confront the possibility that he is more than a single person. In Sicario, Kate (Emily Blunt) is pushed into the world of drug cartels by a tight-lipped company man (Josh Brolin) and a near-silent assassin (Benicio Del Toro). In Prisoners, Keller (Hugh Jackman) ventures into murky moral territory to find his kidnapped daughter. In Arrival, Louise (Amy Adams) and Ian (Jeremy Renner) are tasked with bridging the communication gap between beings from another dimension. In all these movies, the characters find themselves in new worlds without answers. In this video, we’ve cracked the code on Villeneuve’s love of ambiguity and we explain how his directing style works across 7 areas of focus including sound, color, production design, and more. Villeneuve creates movies that can be enigmatic but there’s no denying that he is a film artist in complete control of his medium. If you’re studying directing, cinematography, editing, or pursuing ANY career in filmmaking, there are a ton of lessons to be learned from Denis Villeneuve. This is the ultimate breakdown of Denis Villeneuve’s directing style."]


Incendies (Canada/France: Denis Villeneuve, 2010)

 


Incendies (Canada/France: Denis Villeneuve, 2010: 130 mins)

Druta, Gianini. "Misfit and Corporeality in Incendies (Denis Villeneuve, 2010)." Metacritic Journal for Comparative Studies and Theory #1.1 (2015): 122 -137.

Green, Mary Jean. " Denis Villeneuve's Incendies: From Word to Image." Québec Studies #54 (September 2012): 103 - 110. 

Gulgoz, Selun. "The Politics of Art: Middle Eastern Women in Fiction and Film." The Millions (January 5, 2012)

Laczkowski, Jim, et al. "Denis Villeneuve." The Director's Club #140 (December 17, 2017) ["Now Playing Network Master of Ceremonies (and Director's Club founder) Jim Laczkowski joins us for this episode which has us looking at the films of French Canadian filmmaker Denis Villeneuve! With Jim's help, we look at how Villeneuve brings his unique combination of thoughtfulness, pathos, family focus, and strangeness to dramas, genre thrillers, and films across the sci-fi spectrum. Includes lots of spiders and one talking fish."]

Meerzon, Yana. "Staging Memory in Wajdi Mouawad's Incendies: Archaeological Site or Poetic Venue?" Theatre Research in Canada 34.1 (2013): 12 - 36.

Pike, David L. "Burning the Candle at Both Ends: Denis Villeneuve's Incendies (2010)." Bright Lights Film Journal #74 (November 2011)

Rabin, Nathan. "Nathan Rabin vs. The IMDb Top 250: Incendies." The Dissolve (October 22, 2014)

Said, Edward W. "Invention, Memory, and Place." Cultural Studies: From Theory to Action. Malden, MA: Blackwell, 2005: 256-269. [In BCTC Library and professor has a copy]

StudioBinder. "Denis Villeneuve & His Cinema of Ambiguity — Directing Styles Explained." (Posted on Youtube: April 6, 2020) ["Denis Villeneuve movies are made to confuse you. At every opportunity — in the story, in the cinematography, editing, and music, Villeneuve wants to keep you guessing. Watching Denis Villeneuve movies is to be placed in an environment of uncertainty. And that’s what makes them so interesting. In films like Enemy, Prisoners, Polytechnique, Blade Runner 2049, and Arrival, Villeneuve consistently creates awe and wonder with images and sounds we’ve never seen before. In Enemy, Adam (Jake Gyllenhaal) must confront the possibility that he is more than a single person. In Sicario, Kate (Emily Blunt) is pushed into the world of drug cartels by a tight-lipped company man (Josh Brolin) and a near-silent assassin (Benicio Del Toro). In Prisoners, Keller (Hugh Jackman) ventures into murky moral territory to find his kidnapped daughter. In Arrival, Louise (Amy Adams) and Ian (Jeremy Renner) are tasked with bridging the communication gap between beings from another dimension. In all these movies, the characters find themselves in new worlds without answers. In this video, we’ve cracked the code on Villeneuve’s love of ambiguity and we explain how his directing style works across 7 areas of focus including sound, color, production design, and more. Villeneuve creates movies that can be enigmatic but there’s no denying that he is a film artist in complete control of his medium. If you’re studying directing, cinematography, editing, or pursuing ANY career in filmmaking, there are a ton of lessons to be learned from Denis Villeneuve. This is the ultimate breakdown of Denis Villeneuve’s directing style."]





Friday, April 8, 2022

Polytechnique (Canada: Denis Villeneuve, 2009)

 


Professor in Polytechnique: “The universal law of entropy also tells us that any isolated system left on its own, is inevitably destined to irreversible degradation, to the point of self-destruction.”


Polytechnique (Canada: Denis Villeneuve, 2009: 77 mins)

Bailey, Patricia. "Reliving the tragedy: Director Denis Villeneuve discusses his film about the Montreal Massacre." CBC News (February 4, 2009)

Gonzalez, Ed. Polytechnique Slant (June 26, 2011)

Jacobs, Derek. "Denis Villeneuve Week – Day 2: “Polytechnique” (Canada, 2009)." Plot and Theme (September 29, 2015)

Laczkowski, Jim, et al. "Denis Villeneuve." The Director's Club #140 (December 17, 2017) ["Now Playing Network Master of Ceremonies (and Director's Club founder) Jim Laczkowski joins us for this episode which has us looking at the films of French Canadian filmmaker Denis Villeneuve! With Jim's help, we look at how Villeneuve brings his unique combination of thoughtfulness, pathos, family focus, and strangeness to dramas, genre thrillers, and films across the sci-fi spectrum. Includes lots of spiders and one talking fish."]

Lee, Kevin B. "The Tragic Timing of Denis Villeneuve." (Posted on Vimeo: 2016) ["How cinema is given meaning and feeling through the sculpting of time."]

Scott, A.O.  "A Fictional Killer of Women Who Is All Too Familiar." The New York Times (June 28, 2011)

StudioBinder. "Denis Villeneuve & His Cinema of Ambiguity — Directing Styles Explained." (Posted on Youtube: April 6, 2020) ["Denis Villeneuve movies are made to confuse you. At every opportunity — in the story, in the cinematography, editing, and music, Villeneuve wants to keep you guessing. Watching Denis Villeneuve movies is to be placed in an environment of uncertainty. And that’s what makes them so interesting. In films like Enemy, Prisoners, Polytechnique, Blade Runner 2049, and Arrival, Villeneuve consistently creates awe and wonder with images and sounds we’ve never seen before. In Enemy, Adam (Jake Gyllenhaal) must confront the possibility that he is more than a single person. In Sicario, Kate (Emily Blunt) is pushed into the world of drug cartels by a tight-lipped company man (Josh Brolin) and a near-silent assassin (Benicio Del Toro). In Prisoners, Keller (Hugh Jackman) ventures into murky moral territory to find his kidnapped daughter. In Arrival, Louise (Amy Adams) and Ian (Jeremy Renner) are tasked with bridging the communication gap between beings from another dimension. In all these movies, the characters find themselves in new worlds without answers. In this video, we’ve cracked the code on Villeneuve’s love of ambiguity and we explain how his directing style works across 7 areas of focus including sound, color, production design, and more. Villeneuve creates movies that can be enigmatic but there’s no denying that he is a film artist in complete control of his medium. If you’re studying directing, cinematography, editing, or pursuing ANY career in filmmaking, there are a ton of lessons to be learned from Denis Villeneuve. This is the ultimate breakdown of Denis Villeneuve’s directing style."]

Villeneuve, Denis. "It’s hardly hyperbole at this point to crown Denis Villeneuve as one of the most astonishing and consistently energizing talents to come out of this country." Toronto Film Critics Association (January 19, 2015)


















Tuesday, April 5, 2022

Joachim Trier (Ongoing Archive)

 "About Joachim Trier." The Seventh Row (Ongoing Archive)


Reprise (2006)

Oslo, August 31st (2011) 

Louder Than Bombs (2015)

Thelma (2017)

The Worst Person in the World (2021)

Louder Than Bombs (Norway/France/Denmark/USA: Joachim Trier, 2015)

 Louder Than Bombs (Norway/France/Denmark/USA: Joachim Trier, 2015: 109 mins)


Ihre, Jakob.  "Louder Than Bombs." American Cinematographer Podcasts #71 (May 27, 2016) ["Director of photography Jakob Ihre sits down with filmmaker Jim Hemphill to discuss his work on the acclaimed independent film Louder Than Bombs. Ihre discusses the role of the cinematographer in facilitating great performances, his ongoing collaboration with director Joachim Trier, being influenced by films including Ordinary People and The Breakfast Club, and how he finds visual corollaries for emotional states."]

Weston, Hillary. "The Art Form of Memory: A Conversation with Joachim Trier." Current (April 8, 2016)