Visual humor from the silent-era cinema, like other forms of humor (stand-up, sit-com, etc.), is hard to dissect because of the adage that explaining a joke ruins the joke. Like a metaphor that defines something through an oblique comparison to something else, comedy functions in this angled alignment. Therefore, in looking at what makes Buster … Continue reading Buster Keaton’s Comic Brilliance
Most of the reviews for Christopher Nolan's new film, Tenet, argue that its supposed to be the savior of cinema because its the first blockbuster release post-lockdowns. While they largely cite Nolan's Washington Post op-ed from March, which correctly argues that cinemas are socially vital and need our help in hard times, the reviews naively … Continue reading Tenet Will Not ‘Save’ Cinema or: How to Talk About the End of Cinema Without Reactionary Positing
Federico Fellini composes 8½ according to the limits of his own subconscious, giving his spectators an interesting take on the inside of a director's mind. The film weaves between dream and reality, sometimes confusing the two, but other times introduces a surreal fantasy that projects an unconscious vulnerable to Freudian speculation. The spectator is stuck in … Continue reading Marrying Guido to the Spectator: 8½ and Fellini-Spectator Verification
Oppression and misplaced representations of Iranians as foreign ‘Others’ led Marjane Satrapi, an Iranian in exile, to publish Persepolis: The Story of a Childhood; a graphic novel released in Western countries to communicate the unknown virtues of Iranian culture. These virtues unknown by Westerners, Americans specifically for this essay, include the perception of Iranians as … Continue reading Isolation and Western Perception in Satrapi’s “Persepolis”
Experiencing the uniqueness of Queen’s Freddie Mercury, an occidental bystander will mark him with the distinctness of being both masculine in his rock-star stage persona and feminine in his private-life affairs and outfits (by no means is this observation made in full). According to Joseph Campbell’s The Hero with a Thousand Faces, Mercury exhibits heroism … Continue reading Where is Freddie Mercury: The Need for a Hero in Science-Fiction Films
Confined in the streets of South Central Los Angeles, Tre Styles navigates the ghetto sufficiently to the point of liberation by the end of John Singleton’s Boyz n the Hood (1991). The location is a prison of death for those that willingly assume roles within the system (the Baker half-brothers) instead of those breaking free … Continue reading South Central as a Prison in “Boyz N the Hood”
“The ‘I’ who speaks in this story is not the author. Rather, he hopes that you might see yourself in this ‘I’ and understand this story as your own. Paradise is not a place here or there. The soul is paradise; it opens before us; here, today. The humblest things show it. We live in … Continue reading A Look into “The Tree of Life”
Interstellar is the film Christopher Nolan has been trying to make his whole life ever since he saw 2001: A Space Odyssey. He regards this movie as a "seminal" film in the production of Interstellar. Nolan went to go see 2001 during a 1977 re-release in theaters around his seventh birthday. He went on to make super 8 epics as … Continue reading “Interstellar”: A Lengthy Analysis for a Lengthy Film
Director and writer Steve McQueen really proved his worth in the filmmaking world with this film. He utilizes a shocking ecstasy of emotions to give loneliness and sex an overwhelming appeal. The film begins with a montage of sorts with Brandon (Michael Fassbender) living his white-blue desaturated lifestyle. He often employs hookers and clearly is … Continue reading Subjectivity and Form in “Shame”
Boyhood is wonderfully happy. IFC Films called this a "nostalgic time capsule of the recent past and an ode to growing up and parenting.” I couldn’t agree more. Throughout the film we watch a young boy, Mason (Ellar Coltrane), grow up from seven years of age until moving into college at eighteen. And this film is literally showing … Continue reading Thoughts on “Boyhood”
