Author: tederick
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Blu-ray Review: In AN ACTOR’S REVENGE, a Female Impersonator Walks Home Alone At Night
Made right in the middle of the most fertile period in the career of director Kon Ichikawa (The Burmese Harp, Tokyo Olympiad), An Actor’s Revenge joins the Criterion Collection this week as spine #912. It’s a drab tale of melodrama and revenge set in 19th-century Edo, as an onnagata (a male actor playing exclusively female…
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MICHAEL BALLHAUS (1935-2017)
A longtime collaborator with Rainier Werner Fassbinder and Martin Scorsese, Michael Ballaus passed away in 2017 leaving a legacy of great cinematography. We dig into THE PASSION OF THE CHRIST and THE HOUSE ON CARROLL STREET as an entry point to discuss what, exactly, the cameraman brings to a motion picture.
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Rey Before Rey: Padmé Is the Protagonist of THE PHANTOM MENACE
Among many things, one area where The Phantom Menace falls behind the other Star Wars films is its lack of a clear hero’s journey, driving the narrative as Luke’s drives Star Wars and Rey’s drives The Force Awakens. Fans like myself have debated Episode I’s weird plot — and its issues — for years, and one question that comes up…
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Blu-ray Review: THE BREAKFAST CLUB, a Criterion Collection Triumph
If STRANGER THINGS 3 doesn’t have a BREAKFAST CLUB episode, I’m out.
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Deathwatch: CARRIE FISHER (1956-2016)
With The Last Jedi in theatres, and by way of commemorating the one-year anniversary of her death, we look at the life and career of the indomitable Carrie Fisher, with side-trips to Postcards From The Edge and Wishful Drinking.
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The Toy Report: 2017
I don’t think I’ve enjoyed collecting this much in over a decade. I may honestly have taken it a bit too far; new job, new outlook on life, living high on the hog and buying every goddamn thing I set my eyes on. I cancelled a few pre-orders; re-sold a few things that showed up…
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The Films of 2017: The Technical Awards
Following upon my Best Films of 2017 list, here’s everything else worth noting about what was a rather terrific year at the movies.
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Why Rey
“I didn’t know there was this much green in the whole galaxy.” I take inordinate ownership of Rey. Not ownership in the “I made her” sense, but rather, in that she is my representative in the Star Wars universe. I don’t know if it’s true that when I was a kid, I dreamed of a female Jedi, following…
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Deathwatch: HUGH HEFNER (1926-2017)
Our first NSFW episode? We look at the life, career and impact of Hugh Hefner, who brought Playboy into the world and permanently altered Western society’s conception of women.