film festival review
There is a certain bit of magic that occurs with a film like Brydie O’Connor’s Barbara Forever. This is a biography, fairly standard in its conception, I suppose, that nonetheless takes on the form of an essential queer text much like the very works of its subject, Barbara
documentary review
It’s probably not coincidental that there are multiple documentaries releasing this year that deal with WWII propaganda. Andres Veiel’s Riefenstahl premiered a year ago at last year’s Venice Film Festival and Luuk Bouwman’s The Propagandist premiered at the International Film Festival Rotterdam, also last year. Both
film festival review
Adapting books into documentaries comes with a unique set of issues. Especially so when you’re adapting what is essentially an a to z encyclopaedia of over one thousand women who have made an impact, large or small, on the horror genre. Like Xavier Burgin’s Horror Noire: A History
music documentary
Nobody needs me to sit here and talk about John Williams. We all know who he is and what he has achieved. He is that rare sort of below-the-line film technician that even casual filmgoers recognise not just the work of but his name, too. A symbol of
documentary review
I’m Your Venus is a movie that does not go overtly into the complicated history of Paris is Burning. Neither as a cultural artefact, nor for its legacy as a story about queer and trans people directed by a cis filmmaker. Just as we have long since gone beyond
documentary review
A visual essay about video stores playing at a film festival. What a concept! You’ve got to be careful with a film like Videoheaven. Alex Ross Perry’s near-three-hour movie starts with Ethan Hawke in Michael Almereyda's Hamlet (aka Hamlet 2000!) reciting the famous "
documentary review
We don’t necessarily need another documentary about The Texas Chain Saw Massacre. Between features and home entertainment productions, general horror docs plus cast and crew biographies, Tobe Hooper’s horror masterpiece has been well and truly covered over its 50 years. Or at least that’s what it feels
movies about movies
Movies like Scala!!! don't always suit themselves to traditional reviews. This is a documentary about the famed Scala theatre and cinema in England, which has existed in some form since 1905. A Hard Day's Night was shot there! It's played over 4000 films and
documentary review
Movies about movies. Groundbreaking. Movies about the "psychology of film editing"? Okay, that's a bit different. I have enjoyed the films of Chad Freidrichs well enough; The Pruitt-Igoe Myth and The Experimental City have each covered two very different and historically curious moments of the