Published inAn Injustice!·5 days agoMember-only‘Sanctuary’: Margaret Qualley Shines in a Feminist Parable about Sex and Power‘Sanctuary’ explores the age-old idea that behind every successful man is a smart woman who made him that way — In his seminal novella Venus in Furs, Austrian author Leopold von Sacher-Masoch writes, “The moral of the tale is this: whoever allows himself to be whipped, deserves to be whipped.” Published in 1870, Masoch’s words have only increased in resonance, starting in the 20th century when sexology flourished as an…Movies4 min readMovies4 min read
Published inFanfare·May 23Member-only5 Summer Movies that Deserve More LoveThere are two kinds of summer movies: Those that are released in the summer, typically blockbusters, and those that evoke a particular summer feeling, causing us to reflect on that precious time when the sun seemed to stay out all day and the night never ended. I’m more fascinated by…Movies6 min readMovies6 min read
Published inFanfare·May 12Member-only‘The Artifice Girl’: A Timely Exploration of AI EthicsThe problem with movies about AI is that they tend to be more interested in speculating on what it means to be human. Thankfully, The Artifice Girl, Franklin Ritch’s foray into soft science fiction, doesn’t spend too much time fixated on the Do-Androids-Dream-of-Electric-Sheep question. Rather than offer a conventional commentary…Movies4 min readMovies4 min read
Published inAn Injustice!·May 3Member-only5 Female Coming-of-Age Movies to Watch After ‘Are You There God? It’s Me, Margaret.’If Kelly Fremon Craig’s Are You There God? It’s Me, Margaret. isn’t the best movie of the year, it’s likely the one that people will love the most. Decades from now, it’s certain to become a regular part of the cable rotation, alongside Mean Girls (2004) and Eighth Grade (2018)…Movies8 min readMovies8 min read
Published inFanfare·Apr 29Member-only‘Beau is Afraid’: Ari Aster’s Alienating Big Swing is a Must-See for Movie LoversWe movie lovers complain so much about franchises that we tend to forget that we’ve also been treated to wildly ambitious mainstream movies by talented auteurs. Just last year, in addition to the typical blockbusters, we had the option to buy a ticket to original offerings like The Northman, Men…Movies6 min readMovies6 min read
Published inFanfare·Apr 21Member-only‘Showing Up’: A Work of ArtThere have been countless movies about artists over the decades, but few are as authentic as Showing Up, Kelly Reichardt’s latest study of outcasts in American society. Michelle Williams, who previously starred in Reichardt’s Wendy and Lucy (2008), Meek’s Cutoff (2010), and Certain Women (2016), plays Lizzy, a sculptor in…Movies5 min readMovies5 min read
Published inAn Injustice!·Apr 12Member-only‘A Thousand and One’: Living Just Enough for the CityOf all the cities in the world, New York is the most cinematic, the only real place more recognizable to the average person for how it has been portrayed on the big screen. As you think about the city, your mind might conjure images of a young Vito Corleone arriving…Film5 min readFilm5 min read
Published inFanfare·Apr 6Member-only20 Years Later, ‘Elephant’ is Still Essential Viewing“Most importantly, have fun.” These are the last words that Alex (Alex Frost) leaves with Eric (Eric Deulen) after he describes his plan to shoot up their high school. The plan is detailed. Alex goes over the map of the school and the areas each of them will cover with…Film5 min readFilm5 min read
Published inAn Injustice!·Mar 31Member-only‘Full Time’: A Powerful Portrait of France’s Working ClassThe world is filled with workers who are hanging on by a thread, and if one part of their meticulously designed day-to-day routine were to be disrupted, their entire livelihoods would end. Éric Gravel’s Full Time imagines such an anxiety-inducing future through the eyes of Julie (Laure Calamy), a single…Movies4 min readMovies4 min read
Published inFanfare·Mar 16Member-only‘Scream VI’: Lots of Blood, But No GutsWhat’s your favorite scary movie? My answer will always be Wes Craven’s Scream (1996), a clever revisionist slasher that features characters who are aware of pop culture and, as a result, don’t make the same boneheaded decisions as the countless movie victims who came before. …Film5 min readFilm5 min read
