"An act of female imagination" is the phrase Sarah Polley uses to describe her film, Women Talking. I don't mean in interviews or press junkets, but in actual on-screen text. It's a curious statement if you don't know the context of the story. Between 2005 and 2009, in an ultraconservative Mennonite colony in Bolivia, dozens … Continue reading Guess What it’s About – Women Talking
One of my favorite films of all time is the 1932 pre-Code horror film, Freaks. Like many of the great "monster" movies of the age, the film succeeds because of its very sympathetic treatment of the carnival workers that make up the bulk of its cast, asking the crucial, "Who is the real monster?" question … Continue reading Can You Read My Mind? – Nightmare Alley
John Callahan was an American cartoonist who often dealt with macabre and off-putting subject matter, usually as a means to cope with his disabilities, having become partially paralyzed in a drunk driving accident at the age of 21. The title of his memoir - which is also the title of the film - is itself … Continue reading Spinning Around Until You Wipe Out – Don’t Worry, He Won’t Get Far on Foot
I Actually Paid To See This 