Bigger Than Life (1956): A Psychosis of the Real
Written by Cyril Hume and Richard Maibaum, based on an article in the New Yorker by Burton Roueche Directed by Nicholas Ray Starring James Mason, Barbara Rush, Christopher Olsen, and Walter Matthau The period of time surrounding a large election, and the ensuing open discussion of political values, has a way of … Continue reading
Paranormal Activity 2 (2010), Paranormal Activity 3 (2011), & Phenomena (1985): Halloween as Phenomenally Active Fable
Paranormal Activity 2 (2010) Written by Michael R. Perry, Christopher Landon, and Tom Pabst Directed by Tod Williams Starring Sprague Grayden, Brian Boland, Molly Ephraim, and Katie Featherston Paranormal Activity 3 (2011) Written by Christopher Landon Directed by Henry Joost and Ariel Schulman Starring Lauren Bittner, Christopher Nicholas Smith, Chloe Csengery, and Jessica … Continue reading
Screening Log #76: Black Narcissus (1947)
Written by Michael Powell and Emeric Pressburger, adapted from the novel by Rumer Godden Directed by Michael Powell and Emeric Pressburger Starring Deborah Kerr, David Farrar, Kathleen Byron, and Sabu The teleological nature of “progress” or “development” is an intrinsically flawed quality. There’s something dismissive, at best, about prescribing that any society or … Continue reading
Screening Log #75: Terminator 2: Judgement Day (1991)
Written by James Cameron and William Wisher Jr. Directed by James Cameron Starring Arnold Schwarzenegger, Linda Hamilton, Edward Furlong, and Richard Patrick As I’ve mentioned before, the binary opposition between synthetic and organic life presented in James Cameron’s The Terminator is complicated by the series’ second film, Terminator 2: Judgement Day. What … Continue reading
Screening Log #74: The Dark Knight Rises (2012)
Written by Jonathan Nolan, Christopher Nolan, and David S. Goyer, based on characters created by Bob Kane Directed by Christopher Nolan Starring Christian Bale, Tom Hardy, Joseph Gordon-Levitt, Anne Hathaway, Gary Oldman, and Marion Cotillard Perhaps one of the most challenging aspects of making a comic book film lies in conceptualizing how the source … Continue reading
An Ecstatic Truth 