Pop-Rock Not for the Masses: Nellie McKay’s ‘Get Away From Me’ at 20
Nellie McKay is appealing but with an edge, offering hooks but also barbs, looking back at the past and ahead of her time. She could be a pop star in 2024.
comedy
Marilyn Monroe Really Knew How to Act
Marilyn Monroe’s performative femininity as Sugar in Some Like It Hot is just as artificial as Tony Curtis and Jack Lemmon’s drag characters’, only better.
A Den of Slack: ‘Reality Bites’ As a Generational Cautionary Tale
Reality Bites‘ central idea is that selling out is no match for following your heart, and good things will come. That’s all well and good, but it doesn’t pay the bills.
Why Hollywood Filmmakers Turn to Poetry When Dialogue Fails
From comedies to horror, biographies to romance, there’s a reason why Hollywood filmmakers turn to poetry when dialogue fails.
1930s Cinema Gets Wild and Funny with ‘French Revelations’
1930s cinema gets wild and funny with French Revelations: Fanfare d’amour and Mauvaise Graine, talkies with impolite elements from Pottier, Wilder, and Esway.
Who Thought Monty Python’s John Cleese Could Be a Romantic Lead?
You can sense Charles Crichton’s stare bearing down on John Cleese every time the former Monty Python actor attempts anything more comedic than a bemused smirk.
Godfrey Reggio’s Beautifully Bewildering ‘Once Within a Time’
Once Within a Time‘s beautifully bewildering carnival of pop surrealist imagery will haunt you long after its 51-minute concludes.
Men Are So Lovely and Dry: Saltburn’s Queer Narrative Failures
Saltburn sparked discussion for its shocking sex scenes, but for all its stylized images and clever gendered trope inversions, its queer promises are empty.
The Old Days Were Outrageous – You Couldn’t Say Anything
History of offense, protest, and censorship Outrageous is more of a clip show but also a riotous reminder that nothing in the cancel culture wars is new.
‘Laurel & Hardy: Year One’ Shows Why 1927 Was a Vintage Year for Comedy
Most of the comedies in Laurel & Hardy: Year One starred others, so this set shows the evolution of the dual film by film, getting better as they go along.
Nicolas Cage Descends into Self-Loathing in ‘Dream Scenario’
Nicolas Cage uses every bit of his talent to play an irredeemable, self-loathing character trapped in a nightmare scenario in Kristoffer Borgli’s Dream Scenario.
Twisted and Ambitious ‘The Curse’ Watches and Condemns Us
Satirizing the struggles of a married couple shooting an HGTV show, Showtime miniseries The Curse bends genres and points fingers to monstrous effect.