Claire Denis is a French filmmaker whose movies include Chocolat (1988), U.S. Go Home (1994), Beau Travail (1999), Trouble Every Day (2001), and Let the Sunshine In (2018). Her latest work, High Life (2019), opens in Boston on Friday (it depicts the deep-space journey undertaken by a crew of convicts; they’ve been sent out to […]
FESTIVAL REPORT: ON “MOPE”, “TONE-DEAF”, AND MORE FROM BUFF ’19
“I suck at the thing I love,” shouts Tom Dong (Kelly Sry) at Steve Driver (Nathan Stewart-Jarrett) near the end of Mope, which made its East Coast premiere at the 2019 iteration of the Boston Underground Film Festival. Tom makes this declaration with an unusual confidence and clarity (both for the character and for anyone […]
FESTIVAL REPORT: TWO FILMS BY SARAH JACOBSON AT BUFF
At most of the major international film festivals there are programs of older works exhibited alongside the new releases and premieres that ostensibly drew the crowds in the first place. With no small amount of pleasure, I’ve noticed (anecdotally if not statistically) that Boston-area festivals have begun to follow suit with greater regularity: Last summer’s […]
FILM REVIEW: “COLD WEATHER” AND “GEMINI” AT THE HFA
Things do not go according to plan in Aaron Katz’s films. This has been the case with his work from the start. People disappear and plans get put on ice, as do relationships between characters. These films then turn into quirky, surprisingly intriguing mysteries. Katz’s two best works, Gemini (2018) and Cold Weather (2010), will […]
THE BOYS’ CLUB: WOMEN, FILM CRITICISM, AND THE FIGHT FOR VISIBILITY, ON SCREEN AND OFF
“I was either a student, or very young reporter or critic, and I could see I was maybe one of two, or one of three women, [and] one of the only women of color.”
FILM REVIEW: “THE MAFU CAGE” AT THE COOLIDGE
The Mafu Cage premiered at the Cannes Film Festival in 1978 and was distributed across much of Europe in the ensuing years. However the film didn’t gain such traction in the U.S., where it was briefly, and unsuccessfully, rebranded as an exploitation film under the new title Don’t Ring the Doorbell
ANATOMY OF A SCI-FI FILM MARATHON
“Bring a pair of good clean comfy socks. … Stay away from junk food. And by all means, bring you sense of humor. A good ray gun that flashes and makes noise is also recommended.”
INTERVIEW: JODIE MACK
Jodie Mack is a filmmaker and experimental animator whose works include Yard Work is Hard Work (2008), Dusty Stacks of Mom: the Poster Project (2013), and Let Your Light Shine (2013). She has also made a series of textile-based flicker films that were semi-recently featured at the Harvard Film Archive under the program title “Jodie […]
WEEKEND WARRIORS: BOOZY MASS-BASED STONER SHOW ON AMAZON PULLS ZERO PUNCHES
We asked about his comedy adventure and about getting his show about “a group of immature losers” on Amazon.
UNDERSTANDING AND REMEMBERING: ON “ANTONIO LOPEZ 1970”
As a recently christened aficionado of renowned fashion illustrator Antonio Lopez, it’s hard for me to comprehend that, about five years ago, his legacy nearly passed me by. I remember stopping in front of the M.A.C. Cosmetics shop, in Soho, to look at the window advert for their latest capsule collection, “Antonio’s Girls”. And I […]
