New on Video: ‘Death by Hanging’
Death by Hanging is a phenomenally experimental work, a brilliantly conceived way to explore issues of capital punishment, Japanese identity, and the prejudices that create sociocultural barriers.
Death by Hanging is a phenomenally experimental work, a brilliantly conceived way to explore issues of capital punishment, Japanese identity, and the prejudices that create sociocultural barriers.
In 1960, Jean-Luc Godard’s first feature film, Breathless, would make him an icon of French cinema, inaugurating a career that has consistently expanded society’s definitions and expectations of cinema. That film alone would have reason enough to consider him an important filmmaker, but Godard went on to direct fourteen more features through 1967, culminating with …
There was something in the air when Jean-Luc Godard took up the political banner of the late 1960s and shifted his filmmaking focus in terms of storytelling style and stories told, and in a general sense of formal reevaluation and reinvention.
“‘Hail Mary’ is a film of significant meaning and remarkable artistry, but one that tends to get obscured by a controversy that, in all reality, was relatively isolated and, over time, proved to be rather reactionary. Now available on a Cohen Media Group Blu-ray for the first time, this contentious title from one of Godard’s most eclectic and productive periods of filmmaking can be newly appreciated (or damned).”
Growing up gay as a suburban teenager in the mid 90s, my access to queer culture was severely limited (ie nonexistent). Before the proliferation of the internet, one relied on the “gay” section in bookstores and video stores, if there even was one, to seek out examples of visible representation in the media throughout the …
Filmgoers may not know the name of London-based designer Sam Ashby, but they’ve probably seen his work. He created the posters for acclaimed independent releases like Archipelago, A Prophet and Weekend, British director Andrew Haigh’s microbudget gay romance. A keen cinephile, he embarked on an ambitious side project in 2010, with Little Joe …
This past weekend at the British Independent Film Awards, actor/ director Paddy Considine’s feature, Tyrannosaur, lived up to its hype, taking home several awards, including the top prize for Best Film. The brutal drama tells the story of a widower trying to conquer his crippling anger, also nabbed Best Debut Director (Paddy Considine) and Best …