When a foreign filmmaker strikes big in their home country or internationally with a film, it can provide the opportunity to present their work to a wider audiences. Some lucky few (or unlucky depending on who you ask) might have their film picked up by a foreign distributor to exhibit in other countries, while others […]
One of the main characteristics of magic realism is that it eludes definition. Sure, the Merriam-Webster dictionary offers a few definitions, including “a literary genre or style associated especially with Latin America that incorporates fantastic or mythical elements into otherwise realistic fiction.” It’s a start. But as the genre has made its way into other […]
Psychedelia in film is characterized by distortion (both in image and in sound), experimentation in narrative and editing, and sometimes drug-inspired hallucinations. Like the psychoactive drugs which produce heightened sensory perceptions and distortion, psychedelic films present to their audience an unfamiliar and/or dream-like view of reality. The following films use cinematography, narration, editing, sound design, […]
The 80s was a great decade for cinema, while not as fruitful as the 70s, it was an interesting period nonetheless. With Reagan in office in the US, the political mood had shifted to the right. Films appealing to the patriotic spirit began to emerge, with the Brat Pack repelling a communist invasion in Red […]
William Hurt, a virtual unknown, shot onto the big screen in 1980 with Altered States and quickly became one of the most important actors of the decade. He starred in some of the biggest and most thoughtful films of the time. However by the end of the decade, severe personal problems including a highly publicized […]
In the 1960s, a large number of new, young directors in France started making films that offered a fresh perspective on existing techniques and attitudes about the medium of film itself. They influenced the rest of the world with their interest in film history and created reflexive, modernist work that pushed the boundaries of the […]