In Brief: Lo and Behold, Reveries of a Connected World

A surprisingly worthwhile film that manages to transcend the documentary genre and Herzog's own idiosyncrasies to achieve a truly poetic statement on the Internet.xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

In Brief: Captain Fantastic

A film punctuated with moments of insight assembled into an absurdly non-sensical montage, when looked at properly, reflects something about the insanity of American social-life while remaining a film absolutely not worth taking very seriously.xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

Second Look: The Night Of

Now that this HBO series has concluded, we take a moment to review our previous analysis of the series to see how it culminates in a reflection on a process of transformation taking place in American society today .xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

In Brief: Woody Allen's Café Society

Woody Allen's latest film deals with the alienating potential of dreams. However, as with some of his recent work, this one gets a too bogged down in hyper-neurotic reflexivity that undermines what it could have been.xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

The Night Of: Elevating The Ordinary

This new HBO series brings Scandinavian crime-noir to the U.S. to explore dysfunction in the criminal justice system and undermine existing cinematic representations of it.xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

Birdman: precisely what Robert Altman's Short Cuts is missing

Iñárritu's film owes alot to Robert Altman's Short Cuts, from which it borrows many ideas that were pregnant but not fully realized in his film. Iñárritu also makes a much better film that pays real respect to Raymond Carver's work.xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

Dinosaur 13 and Criminal Ideology

The most dishonest propaganda film in recent memory, this film tries to exploit every aspect of the structure and aesthetic of a good documentary to re-write the history of the crimes and profiteering of a group of fossil thieves.xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

The Revisionist 'Conservative' Ideology of Billions

Another in the long list of Showtime's attempts to create a conservative ideological counter-point to HBO's progressivism. This film pulls out every trick in the book to re-cast corporate profiteers as inherently honest, decent people.xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

What The Big Short is Not

While an honest and valuable film that takes a look at the under-explored causes of the 2008 Financial Crash, the film's final judgment is rather thin and unsatisfying and reminds us what Scorcese accomplised with his Wolf of Wallstreet.xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

The Subtle Establishment Propaganda of Homeland

A series that attempts to re-rehabilitate a defunct portrayal of government over-reach, torture, and invasive spying through its dishonest re-casting of those that do them as hip, honest patriots who listen to jazz.xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx