In a review of the standout William Castle film When Strangers Marry (1944) first published on December 4, 1944, the legendary critic Manny Farber quite favorably compared that particular B-movie with some other films that back then were considered A-features, even noting that the cliches in Castle’s film seemed “fresher and less annoying” than those […]
FILM REVIEW: TWO BY JA’TOVIA GARY AT THE HFA
The Harvard Film Archive began the “Cinema of Resistance” series in May 2017, with the programmer at the time, David Pendleton, offering something of a mission statement in the notes accompanying the first screening. “Cinema has always been a method of examining the world the way it is, in order to understand it, to begin […]
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 […]
STILL B.U.F.F.: GUIDE TO THE 2016 BOSTON UNDERGROUND FILM FESTIVAL
Your Guide to the 2016 Boston Underground Film Festival
UGLY AMERICANS, BEAUTIFUL MOVIES: ON THE HARVARD FILM ARCHIVE’S LATEST HOLLYWOOD PROGRAM
On the Harvard Film Archive’s latest program of Hollywood pictures
PEAK APU: GETTING TO KNOW THE EXEMPLARY POETRY OF THE APU TRILOGY
What it is, is cinema.
MISTAKEN IDENTITY: SAMUEL FULLER’S TAKE ON THE PRIMARY CONTRADICTION OF AMERICAN LIFE
Fuller’s movie recognizes (with astutely visualized clarity) the primary contradiction of American life: Racial identity is a false construct, but one that no individual can ever transcend.
ALT-MAN: THE COUNTERCULTURE FILMMAKING OF ROBERT ALTMAN AT HFA
Perhaps the premiere American counterculture filmmaker.
BREAK BEAT: BICYCLE IDOLATRY AS ARROGANT AS IT IS ASTOUNDING IN BREAKING AWAY
There are two championship competitions, but the film—released in 1979—is not another Rocky.
