Category: Essay

  • Film Composer Spotlight: Hans Zimmer

    Film Composer Spotlight: Hans Zimmer

    There are many creative forces which go into storytelling through film. You may not always be fully conscious of everything being used to communicate a story to you. The easiest element to recognize in a film is the on-screen performers. Film actors are the stars. They get paid the big bucks. Everyone talks about them,…

  • Oscars 2019 – Who Should Win? (Part Two)

    Oscars 2019 – Who Should Win? (Part Two)

    Welcome to part two of our Oscar picks! Here’s part one if you missed it: Oscars 2019 – Who Should Win? (Part One) Remember, these aren’t the movies that will win, these are the movies that should win. Here are our picks for the most coveted categories of the night…   Best Supporting Actress  …

  • Oscars 2019 – Who Should Win? (Part One)

    Oscars 2019 – Who Should Win? (Part One)

    The Oscars can’t get it right every year. The truth is, we’ve been spoiled. While the right films rarely win, they usually at least get nominated. Not this time. For the last four years in a row, the best movie of the year has been up for Best Picture. This year, the crowning achievement of…

  • Apostasy for the Faithful

    Apostasy for the Faithful

    The horrors of the latest news cycle, indicating Pope Francis covered up sexual abuse reports to allow former Archbishop McCarrick to continue in his post, hold such vast and far-reaching implications that commentary on a movie from a few years ago feels trite and perhaps escapist. Nonetheless, the Vatican’s response to Vigano’s letter, “I will…

  • Beauty in Simplicity – A Conversation with Anna Frances Ewert

    Beauty in Simplicity – A Conversation with Anna Frances Ewert

    Lovers of the Night is equal parts tender and rapturous, acting more as an on-screen relationship than a documentary. With her camera trained on the intimate monotony of everyday life, Anna Frances Ewert takes us into an Irish monastery, imbuing her work with the very soul of its walls and residents. You wouldn’t be mistaken…

  • True/False Film Festival 2018 Day 4

    True/False Film Festival 2018 Day 4

    On its face, 96 hours feels like a lot of time, especially when you’re thinking in terms of 90 minutes movies. But in reality, it flies by, leaving you in a kind of glorious exhaustion. Your head is swimming with ideas and images, and all you want to do is drink a cup of tea…

  • True/False Film Festival 2018 Day 3

    True/False Film Festival 2018 Day 3

    After a difficult day two at the 2018 True/False Film Festival, there was a sense of lost time I was battling. Having only seen a handful of films in two days, I wondered if that time could be made up in the ensuing two days, busy days though they would be. There was a conflicting…

  • Oscars 2018 – Who Should Win? (Part Two)

    Oscars 2018 – Who Should Win? (Part Two)

    Welcome to part two of our Oscar picks! Here’s part one if you missed it: Oscars 2018 – Who Should Win? (Part One) Remember, these aren’t the movies that will win, these are the movies that should win. Here are our picks for the most coveted categories of the night…   Best Supporting Actress  …

  • True/False Film Festival 2018 Day 2

    True/False Film Festival 2018 Day 2

    Films: Lovers of the Night; Caniba; Three Identical Strangers As magical as it can be, one of the unfortunate realities of True/False is that one bad experience can set your day off course. The festivals programs trend both heady and heavy, and while they’re (mostly) all entertaining in their own ways, the wear-and-tear of one…

  • True/False Film Festival 2018 Day 1

    True/False Film Festival 2018 Day 1

    Films: Shorts: Red Wine 73 (Mini Miss; Duelo; La Bouche; Palenque), American Animals One of the best parts about True/False is the near-guarantee of being transported to another world. I say “near-guarantee,” because there are always films that are willing and able to take you to places about which you’d never think or dream. However,…