New Paradigms: A Conversation About The World Through Filmmaker Ian MacKenzie’s Lens

In many ways, Ian MacKenzie embodies the emerging millennial attitude on politics and media. He’s always been interested in recording the world — from toying with cameras as a child to devoting some of his...

Embers of War Still Flickering at the Met

When Abraham Lincoln was elected the 16th President of the United States in November 1860, frayed stitching held the nation’s fabric in place. By December, the divide between North and South grew ever wider when...

North Korea Goes ‘Girl Power’: Co-Director Nick Bonner on His New Film ‘Comrade Kim Goes Flying’

To the Western eye, Comrade Kim Goes Flying might not seem like much. About a 28-year-old North Korean coal miner from the countryside pursuing her childhood dream to become an acrobat, it’s a simple, unassuming...

(Dark) Future Perfect

What’s in your wardrobe: pastels, earth tones, or maybe stripes? What about black?

Yes, black — and not just the ubiquitous dress of a certain small size. In 2013, black — that much-maligned...

‘Some Girl(s)’: A Provocative Look at a Soulless Man

Willfully chit-chatting with a slew of scorned exes would hardly be a top priority for most people, but then again, the unnamed protagonist (or antagonist, depending on how you perceive him) in Some Girl(s) isn’t...

‘Before You Know It’: A Peculiar, Fascinating Glimpse at the Aged Gay Experience

P.J. Raval’s new film, Before You Know It, is an exercise in acute, undiluted emotion. It drops you into the lives of three disparate men who all happen to be gay seniors (a subset of the population most viewers...

‘The Lone Ranger’ Misses the Shot by a Mile

About midway through The Lone Ranger, a bombastic western from Pirates of the Caribbean director Gore Verbinski, there is a slapstick bit that perfectly encapsulates the entire film with that brand of sly irony that...

The ‘Reds’ and the Silver Screen: A Look at the 35th Moscow International Film Festival

The 35th Moscow International Film Festival kicked off two weeks ago amid red-carpet fanfare, as well as the presence of a ravenous horde of undead flesh-eaters — and no, I’m not talking about the...

‘White House Down:’ Effective, ‘Trigger-Happy’ Nonsense

Bullock and McCarthy Can Handle ‘The Heat’

Cloaked in the retro-stylistic graphics that defined the crime-fighting films of the ’70s and ’80s, the opening credits of The Heat are clearly meant to evoke the prestige of the infamous buddy-cop...