‘The Fall of the House of Usher’ Delivers a Fatal Dose of Poe
Flanagan’s The Fall of the House of Usher delivers a fatal potion of Poe-haunted, nightmarish doom that brings us to our knees before the conqueror worm.
pmpick
Merged Destinies in Chekhov Adaptation ‘Vanya’
Andrew Scott’s stunning one-man performance in Vanya captures your qualms and hypotheticals and throws them back at you not as a bang but as a whisper.
Martin Scorsese’s ‘Killers of the Flower Moon’ Shows Genocide Is (also) a Private Affair
Martin Scorsese’s Killers of the Flower Moon is another storytelling masterclass and examination of 20th-century American histories of greed and destruction.
John le Carré Gives No Truth, Only Betrayal in ‘The Pigeon Tunnel’
Errol Morris’ The Pigeon Tunnel follows a wily, cynical, yet chipper John le Carré down a rabbit hole of Cold War moral ambiguity.
A Questionable Quartet: Tom Lucas, Research Randy, H.P. Lovecraft, and Edward Stratemeyer
Tom Lucas’ parody Research Randy and the Mystery of Grandma’s Half-Eaten Pie of Despair fuses elements of H.P. Lovecraft’s Cthulhu Mythos into an Edward Stratemeyer world.
The Surreal, Dazzling Desert World of Melissa Broder’s ‘Death Valley’
Melissa Broder’s quality of being “terminally online” lends Death Valley an air of immediacy that grounds its surreal, dazzling moments in poignant emotional realism.
We All Must Reckon with the ‘MCU: The Reign of Marvel Studios’
Corporate villainy! Creative tyranny! Dangerous foes and tough allies! MCU: The Reign of Marvel Studios blasts the superhero movie universe with the studio’s massive, messy history.
Chuck D’s Graphic Novel ‘Summer of Hamn’ Zeros in on “Hatriots” and More
With graphic novel Summer of Hamn, rap legend and now visual artist Chuck D has produced his second, strong, COVID-era work of art and social commentary.
Daniel Guebel’s ‘The Jewish Son’ Invokes Kafka’s ‘Dearest Father’
In The Jewish Son, Daniel Guebel invokes Kafka’s “Dearest Father” to tell the story of a complicated father-son relationship.
Fragments of a (Diabolical) Dream: Vojtěch Mašek’s ‘The Sisters Dietl’
Reading Vojtěch Mašek’s s diabolical and superb The Sisters Dietl is like consuming a many-layered pastry laced with something hallucinogenic.
Albert Camus’ Struggles with Earthly Existence in ‘Travels in the Americas’
The Albert Camus of Travels in the Americas diaries is a passionate, despairing reckoner with the struggles of earthly existence, both personal and societal.
‘Last and First Men’ Is a Symphonic Meditation on Humankind’s Brevity
Last and First Men, an astounding and unusual art film, science fiction meditation, and visual symphony, is the first and only film created by the late Icelandic composer Jóhann Jóhannson.