In Secret Written and directed by Charlie Stratton USA, 2013 What occurs in the new film In Secret feels less like a natural progression of logical events, instead of something more pre-ordained and unnecessarily fatalistic. The characters existing inside of this turgid tragedy do not act freely, but as if guided by an invisible puppet …
The Prize Written and directed by Paula Markovitch Mexico, 2011 After winning an essay contest at her school, seven-year old Cecilia (Paula Galinelli Hertzog) is showered with praise. Her teacher has the entire class form a line, and one-by-one, she has everyone give Cecilia a congratulatory kiss on the cheek. That is, except for one. …
2011 was one of the best years for film in recent years. There are about 25 films that could have made my top ten list and each film in my top 5 could be my number one. I saw about 100 films this year and I still wish I could have seen more. I feel …
With more movies in limited and general release than ever before, 2011 was a ridiculously crowded year for both casual and discerning moviegoers alike. One by-product of the glut is a refreshing lack of consensus; so many films have been championed in so many corners – while those same films get trashed in others – …
Most moviegoers can agree on one thing: there were way too many movies this year. If you’re (un)fortunate enough to live in New York, you had the opportunity to see around 600 new features come and go; the rest of us didn’t get that many fewer. That means that anyone who’s been put in …
Most moviegoers can agree on one thing: there were way too many movies this year. If you’re (un)fortunate enough to live in New York, you had the opportunity to see around 600 new features come and go; the rest of us didn’t get that many fewer. That means that anyone who’s been put in a …
Martha Marcy May Marlene Directed by Sean Durkin Written by Sean Durkin USA, 2012 The fractured nature of Sean Durkin’s Martha Marcy May Marlene is eerily reminiscent of the same tactics used by Derek Cianfrance in his 2010 film Blue Valentine. This film relies less on the novel like structure of the aforementioned film, as it effortlessly invites the …
Martha Marcy May Marlene Directed by Sean Durkin Screenplay by Sean Durkin 2011, USA Winner of the Best Dramatic Direction award at this year’s Sundance Film Festival, Martha Marcy May Marlene is a clever, creepy and extremely striking reflection on the duplicitous way cults instill their beliefs when feeding on the psychological vulnerabilities of their …
Filmmakers have continued to push boundaries and find new innovative ways to elicit the emotions of fear, disgust and horror from viewers. Since Alfred Hitchcock directors strived to provoke viewer’s nightmares, hidden fears, revulsions and terror of the unknown. Although a good deal of it is about the supernatural, others have focused more on a …
When we talk about modernism in cinema, we are talking about filmmaking that acknowledges the medium as part of the storytelling, a melding of form and content so that the images on screen portray not just actions but interior psychology and moral quandaries. Keeping that in mind, it is hard to deny that the Dardenne …
Martha Marcy May Marlene Directed by Sean Durkin Written by Sean Durkin Starring Elizabeth Olsen, Sarah Paulson, Hugh Dancy, John Hawkes Even from its title the film Martha Marcy May Marlene suggests a fracture of psyche, a yearning for identity that provokes a young woman’s hypnosis and subsequent evasion of a sinister cult in the …
The 49th installment of the New York Film Festival, going on September 30th to October 16th, is shaping up to be a jammed packed cluster of cinematic gold. From love-torn couples (Mia Hansen-Love’s Goodbye First Love) to suffocating terrains (Julia Loktev’s The Loneliest Planet) to documentaries shot on an Iphone (Jafar Panahi’s This Is Not …