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The Notorious Television Versions of Universal Studios

Jun 5th, 2020 Bill Bria

In 1984, David Lynch’s ill-fated adaptation of Dune was released in theaters to poor reviews and disappointing box office. Given that Lynch had shot about a half-hour of material that was cut from the theatrical release, distributor Universal Studios and their partners at MCA Television prepared...

Watch This: <i>We Are Freestyle Love Supreme</i>

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Watch This: We Are Freestyle Love Supreme

Jun 5th, 2020Abby Olcese

If you’re one of the many folks looking forward to the Disney + release of Hamilton in July, good news: you can get a head start on uplifting Broadway hip-hop content with We Are Freestyle Love Supreme. The Hulu documentary, out this weekend,...

Movies

Review: Shirley

Jun 4th, 2020Roxana Hadadi

Decades after her death in 1965, Shirley Jackson’s shadow looms over American horror, continuing to make a space in the genre for a female point of view originally shaped by mid-century domestic unease and social isolation. Film and TV...

Movies

Review: Becky

Jun 4th, 2020Kristy Puchko

Forget punching Nazis. Are you craving to see a gang of white supremacists ripped to bloody bits? Good news for you: Becky has arrived. Jonathan Milott and Cary Murnion, co-directors of the action-packed B-movies Cooties and Bushwick, reteam...

Looking Back

Classic Corner: The Pawnbroker

Jun 3rd, 2020Jason Bailey

The first cut comes a few minutes into the second scene of Sidney Lumet’s The Pawnbroker, and it happens so quickly that if you glance away for a second, you might not catch it. Sol Nazerman (Rod Steiger) is relaxing in the backyard of his...

Movies

Watch This: The Vast of Night

Jun 1st, 2020Abby Olcese

When watching The Vast of Night, the Slamdance phenomenon currently streaming on Amazon Prime, it’s hard not to be reminded of Brad Bird’s now-famous quote about Colin Trevorrow when Bird recommended him to direct Jurassic World: “There’s...

Movies

Hazy Nightmare Visions: Dream Logic in the Cinema of Robert Altman

Jun 1st, 2020Zach Vasquez

There are lots of stories about Robert Altman that solidify his reputation as the most ‘maverick’ filmmaker of his generation, but perhaps none is more telling than the time he rushed into 20th Century Fox unannounced, and pitched the dream he...

<i>Fletch</i> Endures, 35 Years and 11 Novels Later

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Fletch Endures, 35 Years and 11 Novels Later

May 29th, 2020Jeremy Herbert

Early on in Fletch Won, the eighth published novel in the series by Gregory McDonald and the first chronologically, Irwin Maurice Fletcher is reassigned to the society pages of the Los Angeles News-Tribune. “Frank, I don’t believe in...

What We Can Learn from the <i>Scorsese Shorts</i>

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What We Can Learn from the Scorsese Shorts

May 28th, 2020Jason Bailey

It’s tempting, when viewing the early Martin Scorsese short films and mid-length documentaries assembled in the Criterion Collection’s new Scorsese Shorts, to focus on the coming attractions – the little flourishes, already present in these...

Movies

Review: The High Note

May 28th, 2020Kimber Myers

Like a highly produced pop song that leaves your head the second it’s over, The High Note is pleasant enough while you’re experiencing it, but it refuses to linger after the credits roll. Dakota Johnson and Tracee Ellis Ross lead a strong cast...