Originally Written in 2018. There can be little doubt that Bi Gan is a cinephile. Here, we witness touches of Tarantino, Kar-wai, Ming-liang and the biggest of them all, Tarkovsky. Yet the fanaticism Gan displays isn’t one of inspired creative force but rather of a constraining shadow. I would err, however, to call it wholly … Continue reading Long Day’s Journey Into Night Review
Author: Anthony E. Dominguez
Cleo From 5 to 7 and The Portrait of a Lady
Originally Written Summer 2019. The following is part one my coverage of Film at Lincoln Center’s 50th Mixtape: Free Double Features series. The common thread between Agnes Varda’s Cleo from 5 to 7 (1962) and Jane Campion’s The Portrait of a Lady (1996) is time and freedom. Cleo (Corinne Marchand), feeling trapped by the chanteuse … Continue reading Cleo From 5 to 7 and The Portrait of a Lady
Top 2016 Films REDUX
I have only created a list this meticulous once, and I am not sure if I would ever do it again. Of particular note is the list of "missed films" which includes Ryusuke Hamaguchi's Happy Hour, a monumental film that not only appears in the REDUX list, but also what I consider to be one … Continue reading Top 2016 Films REDUX
Il Boom – Vittorio De Sica’s Kinetic Satire
Originally written in 2017. If Antonioni’s L’Avventura (1960) contextualizes capitalistic consumption within existential ennui, then Vittorio De Sica’s Il Boom (1963) can be seen as L’Avventura’s obverse, situating materialistic greed in a comedic framework. Il Boom tells the story of Giovanni Alberti (Alberto Sordi), a failing building contractor massively indebt. Deeply in love with his … Continue reading Il Boom – Vittorio De Sica’s Kinetic Satire
Top 2020 Albums
Against All Logic - 2017 - 2019 Beatrice Dillon - Workaround Charlie XCX - How I'm Feeling Now Kate NV - Room for the Moon Moore Mother & Billy Woods - Brass Rina Sawayama - Sawayama Sarah Davachi - Cantus Descant Still House Plants - Fast Edit Special Interest - The Passion OfThe Soft Pink … Continue reading Top 2020 Albums
Black Flight
The following was written as a prompt in response to Ousmane Sembene's Black Girl for a graduate seminar on surveillance. The song used in the accompanying video is Moore Mother's "Black Flight" from her excellent Analog Fluids of Sonic Black Holes album. Originally written in Spring 2020. Lisa Park’s writings on antenna trees not only … Continue reading Black Flight
Golden Eighties: Love in the Age of Material Desire
The following is an old review taken from my archive. Date: September 2017. I fondly recall catching this at Quad Cinema. Chantal Akerman’s films examine the limited spaces in which women must find their freedom in. Take for example Delphine Seyrig in Jeanne Dielman (1975) shifting constantly between the kitchen, bedroom, and dining room, or … Continue reading Golden Eighties: Love in the Age of Material Desire
Shu Lea Cheang’s Radical I.K.U.
The following is an old review I wrote taken from my archive. Date unknown. A soft critique of late-era Capitalism, I.K.U. (appropriately Japanese slang for orgasming), imagines a future world so accelerated in its everyday life that humanity has resorted to cyborgs for collecting the overwhelming amount of information. Inspired by Blade Runner (1982), the cyborgs are known as … Continue reading Shu Lea Cheang’s Radical I.K.U.
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