Category: Film

Review: Behind Every Good Man [1967]

Willow Catelyn Maclay and Caden Mark Gardner recently published their book, Corpses, Fools and Monsters: The History and Future of Transness in Cinema. First of all, it is a fantastic book and you should buy it. Secondly, one of the films that they discussed that stood out to me the most was Nikolai Ursin’s Behind Every Good Man.

Maclay and Gardner explain in their book: “Ursin…shot a hybrid of documentary and scripted fiction to depict the everyday life of a trans woman…[the film] is a stunning eight-minute document focusing on a trans woman of color that, in 2022, was added to the National Film Registry in the United States.”

Reading that, I could not help but feel like this was a truly historic text that needed to be watched as soon as possible. Thankfully, Maclay and Gardner also explained that the film had recently be restored by the UCLA Film & Television Archive, so it was rather easy to find the film and watch it myself. Continue reading Review: Behind Every Good Man [1967]

Ranking the Federico Fellini Films

Films to Still Watch; Fellini’s Casanova, Orchestra Rehearsal, City of Women, Ginger and Fred, The Voice of the Moon

Federico Fellini is one of the most iconic filmmakers of all time. I was introduced to 8 1/2 in my teenage years but it took me two decades to finally go and dig deep into his work. He clearly deserves his reputation for many reasons. He is though a classic example of an artist that struggles with writing anything but what he knows most dearly. That is not really a knock but worth noting. Here is how I have his films ranked so far in my exploration.

Continue reading Ranking the Federico Fellini Films

Ranking the Agnès Varda Films

Agnès Varda was one of the great artists of the last 100 years. Her natural and practiced curiosity allowed her to make interesting films right up until the end of her life – a time when the vast majority of artists seem unable to keep the fire alive.

 

Agnès Varda Articles on The Reel World
Ranking the Agnès Varda Films
Thoughts on the Agnès Varda Documentaries and Short Films

Continue reading Ranking the Agnès Varda Films

Thoughts on the Agnès Varda Documentaries and Short Films

Agnès Varda made dozens of short films and documentaries in addition to her celebrated feature-length fiction films. These are my thoughts on them.

 

Agnès Varda Articles on The Reel World
Ranking the Agnès Varda Films
Thoughts on the Agnès Varda Documentaries and Short Films

 

Continue reading Thoughts on the Agnès Varda Documentaries and Short Films

Ranking The Chronicles of Riddick Films

The Riddick franchise released 3.5 films for fourteen years and supposedly still has a plan to release one more. It is the ugly step-child in the family of Vin Diesel franchises. It is no less interesting as a Vin vehicle though and worth examining in full.

Continue reading Ranking The Chronicles of Riddick Films

Ranking the Sergio Leone Films

Still Need to Watch: The Colossus of Rhodes

Sergio Leone is one of those filmmaking legends that for some reason feels larger than life. He popularized the spaghetti western. He is as responsible for the onscreen persona of Clint Eastwood as anyone. He made some of the most iconic films in the history of cinema. Thankfully, he was also very fucking good at making movies.

 

“You see in this world there’s two kinds of people, my friend. Those with loaded guns and those who dig.”

Continue reading Ranking the Sergio Leone Films

Ranking the George Lucas Films

George Lucas is one of the strangest figures in Hollywood history. On one hand, he clearly is a film genius. On the other hand, well, everything about Star Wars is obviously made for children, and no one should care too much about it after they become an actual adult. Here is hoping he has spend the final decades of his life secretly making cool films in his basement the entire time that will not be released until he dies.

Continue reading Ranking the George Lucas Films