The Influence

Aug 29, 2025 — The Ringer ranks this century’s greatest on-screen turns and Joseph McBride champions John Ford’s final feature.

Jul 8, 2025 — The maestro of existential dread is celebrated in New York, Vancouver, and Columbus, Ohio.

Jun 30, 2025 — The Austin Film Society spotlights nine performances, each of them a unique declaration of independence.

Apr 29, 2025 — To commemorate the fiftieth anniversary of the fall of Saigon, the director of Three Seasons discusses a selection of landmark films that have shaped how we remember this devastating and divisive conflict.

Apr 29, 2025 — A gritty look at New York City’s underground economy through the eyes of an immigrant street hustler, Sean Baker’s third feature film demonstrates his gift for combining hardscrabble social realism and mischievous humor.

Nov 21, 2024 — Dennis Hopper’s bleakly nihilistic drama struggled to find an audience after it premiered at the Cannes Film Festival in 1980, but time has revealed it to be one of the most hardcore films about disaffected youth ever made.

Oct 25, 2024 — An underseen gem of the Czechoslovak New Wave and an ambitious history of Hindi cinema are among this week’s highlights.

Sep 6, 2024 — Alex Cox discusses his first and next films, Warhol rarities screen in New York, and a courtroom drama revisits the culture wars of 1970s France.

Jul 16, 2024 — In one of the most patient films he has ever made, Wim Wenders captures how everyday existence drifts into our dream lives.

May 24, 2024 — During a period of seismic change in U.S. history, the Hollywood studio system began to fracture beyond repair, resulting in a new freedom in how movies explored themes of violence, psychosis, and social breakdown.