A Last Note

Jul 30, 2021 — First: conscious neglect and budget cuts are threatening cinema’s legacy. Then: this week’s highlights.

Apr 9, 2021 — Uncovering “The Naked City,” Bruce Goldstein’s scintillating chronicle of The Naked City’s groundbreaking New York location shoot, is more than the best “where-they-filmed-it” doc ever made. As Goldstein wittily traces director Jules Dassin’s Gotham roots and influences, this twenty-three-minute documentary—now...

Mar 4, 2021 — Andreas Fontana’s Azor and Ramon and Silvan Zürcher’s The Girl and the Spider are competing in the Encounters program at the Berlinale.

Jul 31, 2020 — This week we’re reading about Stanley Kubrick, Jean-Luc Godard, Luchino Visconti, Amy Seimetz, and the cinematic allure of fictional cults.

May 18, 2020 — It’s hard to imagine Hollywood without Frances Marion. The story of the screenwriter’s career is entwined with the story of Hollywood itself, from its pioneer days to the Golden Age. Part of Marion’s skill as a writer was how her...

Mar 31, 2020 — Everybody loves Show Boat, but where is the love for the woman whose name alone sits above the title in James Whale’s dazzling 1936 film version? Edna Ferber was a best-selling novelist for decades, and in her peak years also...

Feb 3, 2020 — Nearly half of the awards presented over the weekend went to female filmmakers.

Jan 3, 2019 — We look ahead to films by Martin Scorsese, Greta Gerwig, Paul Verhoeven, Hirokazu Kore-eda, and dozens more.

Dec 6, 2018 — Adam McKay’s Vice leads the Golden Globe nominations as critics write up their lists of the best of 2018.

Sep 4, 2018 — Natalie Portman sings, Willem Dafoe paints, and Frederick Wiseman heads to Trump country.