The inner chaos of adolescent life: Sion Sono’s Love Exposure
In Sion Sono’s Love Exposure (Ai no mukidashi, 2008), 17-year-old Yu (Takahiro Nishijima) struggles with his sexual awakening. Sono turns the…
Recent Posts
The Existential Rhythm of Fortitude in Moonlight
Artistic cinematography and a devoted biographical approach characterize Barry Jenkins’ Moonlight (2016). With plot-driven tri-part divisions, Moonlight poetically chronicles the growth…
In Conversation with Costume Designer Vicki Farrell
A film is as good as the sum of its crafts, crafts that must seamlessly wove the threads that spun…
A family in crisis: Masahiro Kobayashi’s Lear on the Shore
A beach at the seaside is the main location in Masahiro Kobayashi’s Lear on the Shore (Umibe no Ria, 2017)…
To Desire Romantic Closure: Love as Avenue to Immortality in Wings of Desire
Wim Wenders’ Wings of Desire (1987) is an ambitious, poetic meditation on the way we each inhabit our own inner world,…
The Armani Aesthetic and Film Costume Appropriation: Sam Shepard in Voyager
Giorgio Armani’s menswear, and womenswear, aesthetic defined and ruled an era, giving birth to a new form of democracy, a…
Reel Life: One Dude’s Experience at Lebowski Fest
When I first watched The Big Lebowski (1998), I didn’t like it. The viewing took place sometime around 2011, while…
La Dolce Vita Meets New York Jazz and Beat Scene: Jude Law in The Talented Mr. Ripley
It begins with a Princeton jacket and an innocent identity mix-up. Tom Ripley (Matt Damon), a working class young man,…
Cube: An Endless Existentialist Escape
Weaving horror techniques with philosophical undertones, Cube (1997) navigates the dark recesses of humanity in a mechanical enigma. In a…
