Shane Carruth on “Upstream Color”
Upon initial glance, Shane Carruth’s “Upstream Color” may seem like the most formidably impenetrable head-scratcher in many a moon. Like any potent fever dream, the film plays directly on the […]
Tag Archives: Alfred Hitchcock
Indie Essentials: Mia Wasikowska
What makes a performer magnetic? What rarefied talent must a person possess in order to draw an audience into their inner world? Whatever it is, Mia Wasikowska has it. Boy […]
Ry Russo-Young on “Nobody Walks”
From Amy Jellicoe on “Enlightened” to Hannah Horvath on “Girls,” there are a growing assemblage of female characters cheerfully breaking conventions and stereotypes while refusing to fall into the trap […]
Top Twenty Films of 2012: Part II
Contrary to what the Academy may have you believe, the year’s best films aren’t always released during November and December. In fact, one of the pictures in my top ten […]
Pat McDonald on “Hitchcock” and “The Girl”
When Tippi Hedren attended a recent TCM-sponsored screening of Alfred Hitchcock’s 1963 masterwork, “The Birds,” at the Music Box Theatre, I was surprised by just how candidly she opened up […]
Same Old Song: 8 Great Reuses of Movie Music
Quentin Tarantino was once quoted saying that no filmmaker should use a song that has already been powerfully featured in a previous picture. The irony is that Tarantino recycles iconic […]
Indie Essentials: Low-Budget Horror
Since the most nightmare-inducing aspects of horror films are often what’s left unseen, nothing diminishes the scare factor like a big budget. Can anyone honestly say that Jan de Bont’s […]
“Scalene” Illustrates the Subjectivity of Truth
On the 113th birthday of the Master of Suspense, I think it’s a more appropriate time than any to discuss indie filmmaker Zack Parker’s new psychodrama, “Scalene.” The taut, Bernard […]
