Category Archives: Film
Initial Thoughts on Blade Runner 2049
Upon hearing early reports of a planned Blade Runner sequel a couple years ago, I felt both anticipation and dread. I considered it a singular vision which didn’t necessarily need a sequel, yet could understand the desire to re-immerse oneself … Continue reading
Saturday Matinee: Night Tide
By Steve Johnson Source: Bright Lights The first shot proper in Curtis Harrington’s 1961 feature film debut, Night Tide, situates main character Johnny Drake leaning over a pier in his sailor gear, slightly off-angle, so we understand that there’s something … Continue reading
Saturday Matinee: Blade Runner Black Out 2022
In 2022, an EMP detonation has caused a global blackout that has massive, destructive implications all over the world. Directed by Cowboy Bebop and Samurai Champloo’s Shinichiro Watanabe, Blade Runner Black Out 2022 is a new animated short which serves … Continue reading
Ken Burns’ Vietnam War: An Object Lesson in the Failures of the Objective Lens
By Reed Richardson Source: FAIR If journalism resigns itself to being a “first draft of history,” Ken Burns’ popular PBS documentaries, written by Lynn Novick, have increasingly aspired to—and achieved—a coveted status as popular historical canon. This has, in part, been accomplished by … Continue reading
Saturday Matinee: Americathon
“Americathon” (1978) is, like Idiocracy, a dystopian comedy with prophetic predictions such as the fall of the USSR, privatization of public assets, smoking being banned, masses of homeless people living in cars, and the dominance of reality TV, but set … Continue reading
Saturday Matinee: A Short Vision
The Night Ed Sullivan Scared a Nation with the Apocalyptic Animated Short, A Short Vision (1956) Source: Open Culture On May 27, 1956, millions of Americans tuned in to The Ed Sullivan Show, expecting the usual variety of comedians, talents … Continue reading
Saturday Matinee: Le Orme (aka Footprints on the Moon)
From Archive.org: “Le Orme” (a/k/a “Footprints on the Moon” and “Primal Impulse”) has been described variously as an Italian giallo, a sci-fi film, a mystery, or a psychological thriller. Ultimately, it defies pigeonholing. It stars Florinda Bolkan as Alice Cespi, … Continue reading
Saturday Matinee: The President’s Analyst
“The President’s Analyst” (1967) is a political satire written and directed by Ted Flicker. James Coburn stars as Dr. Sidney Schaefer, a psychiatrist recruited by the U.S. government to serve as the president’s private psychoanalyst. Overwhelmed by stress and paranoia, … Continue reading
