Author: Joshua Polanski
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Polite Society Puts A Few Filmmakers on the Map
Polite Society is a film of big announcements. Between writer and director Nida Manzoor and budding star Priya Kansara, this will be a film that puts names on the map of artistic relevance and probably secures quite a few jobs in the meantime. Manzoor and her feature film debut, Polite Society, have already been compared to fellow…
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The One-Armed Swordsman and Its Interesting Complications
As one of the most important wuxia ever made, I came to The One-Armed Swordsman (1967) for Shaw Brothers production quality and one-armed fighting but that’s not what made me fall in love with this film. The One-Armed Swordsman is also an exceptionally romantic four-way love “triangle.” One of the earlier films by director Chang…
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No Technophobes Allowed in Aliens
I’ve always preferred James Cameron’s version of Ellen Ripley (Sigourney Weaver) in Aliens to the Ripley of Ridley Scott’s 1979 Alien. A lot has been said on the differences, especially as they relate to sexuality and the male gaze, between Scott’s version and Cameron’s. James Cameron himself has said quite a bit. I think both Ripleys are admirable but…
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Sakra and the Legacy of Donnie Yen
On the proverbial Mount Rushmore of cinematic martial artists, Jackie Chan and Sammo Hung are gimmes. The debate follows them: Bruce Lee, Tony Jaa, Jet Li, Michelle Yeoh, Iko Uwais, Scott Adkins, Cheng Pei-pei, Stephen Chow, and, of course, Donnie Yen. No matter how you filter and juggle the final two names, you can’t go…
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Piaffe Is Weird, Sexy
Read my capsule review of Piaffe, as part of the Boston Underground Film Festival, on the Boston Hassle‘s website.
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Boston Turkish Film Festival Review: Nurcan Eren Makes Suna Work
The Boston Turkish Film Festival ran from Friday, 3/24 through Sunday, 3/26 at the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston, and c0ntinues through 4/29 virtually. Click here for the schedule and ticket info, and watch the site for Joshua Polanski’s continuing coverage! I’ve always found it insightful to consider who a book or film is dedicated to. It’s…
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Netflix’s Kill Boksoon and Wicksploitation
Netflix’s most recent South Korean action assassination flick, Kill Boksoon, will inevitably be compared to the John Wick franchise. Indeed, it already has. To quote The Hollywood Reporter, who seem somewhat confused about the difference between then and than, “If John Wick were a middle-aged single mom whose teenage daughter was about to come out as a lesbian, than she would be something…
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Boston Turkish Film Festival: Burning Days and Sinkholes
The particular is universal, and the universal is particular.
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Boston Turkish Film Festival: Religion and Gender in Guilt
The Boston Turkish Film Festival runs from Friday, 3/24 through Sunday, 3/26 at the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston, and through 4/29 virtually. Click here for the schedule and ticket info, and watch the site for Joshua Polanski’s continuing coverage! A former journalist turned filmmaker, Ümran Safterr makes the move to feature fiction with Guilt, or Kabahat, which can also…
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Boston Turkish Film Festival: The Obscure Dialogue of Kerr
The most confounding characteristic of this little town, though, is the way everyone speaks as if the rules of conversational reciprocation do not apply to them.
The Transcendent Cinema 