Reflections on a Silver Screen
Reflections on a Silver Screen
The difference between life and the movies is that a script has to make sense and life doesn't. - Joseph L. Mankiewicz
"Do me a favor, will you, pal?": a brief moment of tenderness from In a Lonely Place
"Do me a favor, will you, pal?": a brief moment of tenderness from In a Lonely Place

In the midst of Nicholas Ray’s bitter film noir, this thirty-second scene is striking for its unexpected intimacy.

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Hollywood RevisitedBen RendichApril 10, 2024In a Lonely Place, Humphrey Bogart, Davis Roberts, Nicholas Ray, Film noir, queer
Review: reckoning with destiny in a second Dune
Review: reckoning with destiny in a second Dune

Thrilling though it may be, Denis Villeneuve’s second adaptation of Frank Herbert’s novels presents war as a distressing yet inevitable reality.

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Movie review, Film review, ReviewBen RendichMarch 21, 2024Dune: Part Two, Dune, Denis Villeneuve, Timothée Chalamet, Sci-fi, Action, epic
Review: The Zone of Interest, and the inadequacy of our "best" pictures
Review: The Zone of Interest, and the inadequacy of our "best" pictures

Jonathan Glazer’s historical drama is a groundswell indictment of genocidal complacency. But should it win an Oscar?

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Film review, Movie review, ReviewBen RendichMarch 6, 2024The Zone of Interest, Jonathan Glazer, Sandra Hüller, Holocaust, Drama, Historical, Historical drama, Oscars
Review: All of Us Strangers is the finest movie of the year
Review: All of Us Strangers is the finest movie of the year

The exquisite latest work from writer-director Andrew Haigh embodies the best in what queer commercial filmmaking might offer.

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Film review, Movie review, ReviewBen RendichJanuary 18, 2024All of Us Strangers, Andrew Haigh, Andrew Scott, Paul Mescal, Claire Foy, Jamie Bell, Drama, Family drama, gay, LGBTQ+
Review: Maestro falls flat
Review: Maestro falls flat

Bradley Cooper’s biopic of Leonard Bernstein is a coup of a performance that ultimately acquiesces to its subject’s overblown ego.

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Film review, Movie review, ReviewBen RendichDecember 21, 2023Maestro, Bradley Cooper, Carey Mulligan, Leonard Bernstein, biopic
"Could be...:" a queer reading of They Live By Night
"Could be...:" a queer reading of They Live By Night

Director Nicholas Ray eschews codes of patriarchy by comprehending and responding to his leading man’s beauty.

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Hollywood RevisitedBen RendichDecember 19, 2023They Live By Night, Nicholas Ray, Farley Granger, Alfred Hitchcock, Rope, Strangers on a Train, queer, gay
Review: The Boy and the Heron and Eileen all need help
Review: The Boy and the Heron and Eileen all need help

Neither Hayao Miyazaki’s animation nor William Oldroyd’s psychological drama is very good, though both arise out of compelling scenarios.

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Film review, Movie review, ReviewBen RendichDecember 18, 2023The Boy and the Heron, Eileen, Hayao Miyazaki, William Oldroyd, Thomasin McKenzie, Robert Pattinson, animation, Drama, murder
Review: not a lucid Dream Scenario
Review: not a lucid Dream Scenario

Kristoffer Bogli’s dark comedy appears to be a commentary on the fickle nature of modern celebrity, but also betrays a lurking paranoia towards cancel culture.

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Film review, Movie review, ReviewBen RendichDecember 7, 2023Dream Scenario, Kristoffer Bogli, Nicholas Cage, Comedy, Dark comedy, surreal
Review: Beyoncé marks time with her filmed Renaissance
Review: Beyoncé marks time with her filmed Renaissance

The global music superstar directs a documentary that centers on her live performances, but also unveils a handful of personal quirks.

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Film review, Movie review, ReviewBen RendichDecember 5, 2023Renaissance: A Film by Beyoncé, Beyoncé, concert film, documentary
Review: predatory insecurity in Priscilla and May December
Review: predatory insecurity in Priscilla and May December

Directors Sofia Coppola and Todd Haynes have both crafted unsettling dramas about audience complicity in famed cases of statutory rape.

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Film review, Movie review, ReviewBen RendichNovember 27, 2023Priscilla, May December, Sofia Coppola, Todd Haynes, Elvis Presley, Priscilla Presley, Jacob Elordi, Cailee Spaeny, Julianne Moore, Natalie Portman, Charles Melton, sexual abuse, Drama
Review: Anatomy of a Fall is a deliberate study in uncertainty
Review: Anatomy of a Fall is a deliberate study in uncertainty

Writer-director Justine Triet’s psychological mystery is a meditation on our cultural predilection for interpreting women’s agency as deviant or offensive. 

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Film review, Movie review, ReviewBen RendichNovember 19, 2023Anatomy of a Fall, Sandra Hüller, Justine Triet, murder, murder mystery, Drama, Family drama, feminism, queer, revengeComment
Review: the righteous self-aggrandizement of Killers of the Flower Moon
Review: the righteous self-aggrandizement of Killers of the Flower Moon

For all its concern towards the people of the Osage, Martin Scorsese’s new historical drama is primarily interested in watching its subjects die.

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Film review, Movie review, ReviewBen RendichOctober 28, 2023Killers of the Flower Moon, Martin Scorsese, Leonardo DiCaprio, Lily Gladstone, violence, genocide, Indigenous Americans, Taxi Driver, Drama, Historical dramaComment
Review: the residue of loss in A Haunting in Venice
Review: the residue of loss in A Haunting in Venice

Kenneth Branagh’s latest Agatha Christie adaptation is a richly satisfying murder mystery with emotional weight.

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Film review, Movie review, ReviewBen RendichSeptember 28, 2023A Haunting in Venice, Kenneth Branagh, agatha christie, murder mystery, murder, mystery, Tina Fey, Jamie Dornan
Review: The Little Mermaid breaks the surface
Review: The Little Mermaid breaks the surface

Halle Bailey makes her acting debut with the conviction of Julie Andrews in this engaging live-action remake of Disney’s animated classic.

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Film review, Movie review, ReviewBen RendichJune 4, 2023The Little Mermaid, Disney, Musical, remake, Halle Bailey, Rob Marshall
"You're in pain and so am I:" heartbreak in the movies
"You're in pain and so am I:" heartbreak in the movies

In the wake of a romantic rejection, I find myself remembering several great screen portraits of women who are grieving — from Esther Garrel to Barbra Streisand.

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Hollywood RevisitedBen RendichMay 31, 2023grief, heartbreak, Esther Garrel, Angela Bassett, Patricia Clarkson, The Rules of the Game, Barbra Streisand, Mary Astor, The Maltese Falcon
Review: traces of Monica
Review: traces of Monica

Andrea Pallaoro directs the magnetic Trace Lysette in a ravishing family drama that is both stylish and homey, if occasionally gratuitous.

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Film review, Movie review, ReviewBen RendichMay 28, 2023Monica, Andrea Pallaoro, Trace Lysette, Patricia Clarkson, Emily Browning, Drama, Family drama, Trans stories, LGBTQ+
Review: Beau Is Afraid is genius
Review: Beau Is Afraid is genius

The latest from visionary filmmaker Ari Aster draws a parallel between familial abuse and the hysterical effects induced from living in a world shaped by corporate monopolies.

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Film review, Movie review, ReviewBen RendichMay 21, 2023Beau Is Afraid, Ari Aster, Joaquin Phoenix, Comedy, Dark comedy, Horror, corporations
Review: honor among chevaliers, familiars, and the Super Mario brothers
Review: honor among chevaliers, familiars, and the Super Mario brothers

In this marathon of mediocrity, I reflect on four new releases — from a biopic of the classical composer Joseph Bologne, to a dark comedy about Dracula’s codependent sidekick.

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Film review, Movie review, ReviewBen RendichMay 7, 2023Chevalier, Dungeons and Dragons: Honor Among Thieves, The Super Mario Bros. Movie, Renfield, review, movie review
Review: the lean grandeur of A Thousand and One
Review: the lean grandeur of A Thousand and One

A.V. Rockwell's feature debut is a refreshing, romantic yet unsentimental story about one woman’s fight to raise her son in turn-of-the-millennium Harlem.

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Film review, Movie review, ReviewBen RendichApril 9, 2023A Thousand and One, A.V. Rockwell, Teyana Taylor, Drama, Family drama, New York City
Review: an underwhelming Return to Seoul
Review: an underwhelming Return to Seoul

Writer-director Davy Chou’s portrait of a Korea-born Frenchwoman’s fitful struggle to place herself elides any true impression of angst, discomfort, or urgency.

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Film review, Movie review, ReviewBen RendichApril 2, 2023Return to Seoul, Davy Chou, Ji-Min Park, Drama, Family drama
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