The Plot Against Harry (1989)

I love a movie where an operator makes the rounds. Our protagonist moves around their world, connecting with other characters and settings, each a mini-world of their own. Each stop along their circuit is another insight, another layer into our main character. The Plot Against Harry (1989) is about a Jewish low-level criminal named Harry […]

Funny Pages (2022)

Growing up in 1980s and 1990s pop culture, one myth was the idea that if you were a geek or a nerd, or if you had niche interests about arts, movies, comic-books, that made you more special and creative than the mainstream. I can’t point to any one text, but just the idea that if […]

Blast Of Silence (1961)

A testament to the magic of shooting without permits. New York streets alive with commotion and people. Christmas decorations, shop displays and christmas lights. All you need is a guy with a hat and a trench-coat wandering through, shot by a camera from a car coasting along beside him. Allen Baron is the writer and […]

Glass Chin (2014)

A friend, Adriane, first made me aware of director Noah Buschel by recommending his sports melodrama, The Phenom. Catching up with Buschel’s earlier films, I’ve been really taken by his application of neo-noir conventions and tropes within a low budget indie vision. From mannered dialogue to clearly intentionally framing and lighting, to the use of […]

Losing Ground (1982)

When we first see philosophy professor Sara (Seret Scott), she is lecturing to a classroom behind a lectern, glasses on and hair tied into a bun, discussing Jean-Paul Satre. This opening scene of Losing Ground (1982) might indicate that this will be a heady, intellectual film, but it’s really about peeling back the layers underneath […]