The popular line on Pushover is that it’s a lukewarm reheat of classic noir leftovers, sporting a formulaic and staid plot and sleepwalking performances from the leads.… Read more “Pushover (1954)”
Author: David Nilsen
A Review of Why God Is a Woman by Nin Andrews
In Why God Is a Woman (BOA Editions, 2015), Nin Andrews uses clean, unpretentious language to give us a series of short prose poems that tell of a… Read more “A Review of Why God Is a Woman by Nin Andrews”
Whisky and the Werewolf: A Review of Andrew Ervin’s Burning Down George Orwell’s House
Ray Welter has no idea who he is anymore. A successful thirtysomething Chicago ad executive who made his name on a campaign that exponentially increased the sales… Read more “Whisky and the Werewolf: A Review of Andrew Ervin’s Burning Down George Orwell’s House”
Welcome to Jurassic Park
Jurassic Park came out the summer after I turned eleven, a time in my life otherwise known as “Peak Dinosaur.” My family and I were on vacation… Read more “Welcome to Jurassic Park”
Don’t You Forget: A Review of Kirk Honeycutt’s John Hughes: A Life in Film
No other filmmaker has ever better understood and better captured the experience of being a teenager in America than John Hughes. The teen films he made in the… Read more “Don’t You Forget: A Review of Kirk Honeycutt’s John Hughes: A Life in Film”
The Problematic Wonder of The Lost World and King Kong
Both the 1925 silent classic The Lost World and the 1933 classic King Kong were groundbreaking in their use of stop-motion special effects, which we’ll look at more… Read more “The Problematic Wonder of The Lost World and King Kong”
A Review of The Lowland by Jhumpa Lahiri
There is no other fiction author I know of who handles her characters with the grace of Jhumpa Lahiri. Perhaps related, there is no author I know of… Read more “A Review of The Lowland by Jhumpa Lahiri”
Beat Up Men, Beat Up Machines: Bring Me the Head of Alfredo Garcia (1974)
Sam Peckinpah’s underappreciated 1974 classic Bring Me the Head of Alfredo Garcia is as ’70s as a movie gets. It’s dirty, grimy, sleazy, violent, and pessimistic, and… Read more “Beat Up Men, Beat Up Machines: Bring Me the Head of Alfredo Garcia (1974)”
Camp Classic: The Last Days of Video by Jeremy Hawkins
The Last Days of Video by Jeremy Hawkins (Soft Skull Press, 2015) is more than anything a love story. It’s a love story to movies, and more… Read more “Camp Classic: The Last Days of Video by Jeremy Hawkins”
A Review of Searching for Sunday by Rachel Held Evans
You don’t lose your faith all at once. You lose it as a series of small concessions and releases, a string of low-casualty surrenders. With each piece… Read more “A Review of Searching for Sunday by Rachel Held Evans”
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