Essays and More
Thoughtful Streaming on a Budget
Netflix: $19.99 (premium). HBO Max: $14.99 (no ads). Disney Bundle: $13.99. Amazon Prime: $14.99. Paramount Plus: $10 (premium).
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Missing Shows Screenlife is Here to Stay
Screenlife is here to stay, thanks to Timur Bekmambetov. A Kazakh-Russian director and producer, Bekmambetov is responsible for what’s likely the most outstanding formal innovation in filmmaking in decades. Quite simply: he’s…
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Interview: Belmont World Film Family Festival’s Ellen Gitelman
For the first time in my tenure with the Boston Hassle, the Belmont World Film Family Festival is live and in-person (with several accessible online options). BWFFF will show 11 features, five short programs, and two workshops.…
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Infernal Affairs and the Dark Night of the Soul
One thing I find displeasing about the contemporary Western cinematic landscape is its visual flakiness. The best shots of our biggest blockbusters are basically lifeless realizations of pre-vis. The images just aren’t…
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In the Mood for Love Approaches the Canon
I’ll never understand completionist critics. It’s better, they would have it, to see 10 unique films than only eight unique films with two re-watches littered in the mix. There are so many…
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My Top Ten Films of 2022
Damn, it was a good year for the movies. 2022 was my best year with new releases since at least 2018, if not longer. The gleeful time-travel Japanese comedy Beyond the Infinite Two…
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Glass Onion: A Knives Out Story Deserves Your Attention
Picture this: you’re halfway through a theatrical showing of Glass Onion: A Knives Out Mystery and the screen begins to flicker with a green overlay on the borders of characters and other moving objects.…
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Slither and the Arrival of James Gunn
James Gunn was my first favorite director. And while I know this statement is likely a testament to both my young age and not falling in love with cinema until my late…
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The Transcendent Cinema 