film criticism by maryann johanson | since 1997
“[T]he denial of mythos is everywhere in our culture, and it can partially explain why so much of our approach to everything artistic, challenging, or mysterious seems reductive, dull, and unimaginative….”
In an intimate yet shattering documentary, Black British activist Femi Nylander searches for “the imperial history they didn’t teach at school,” and finds it. Heartbreaking, provocative, illuminating.
My pick: “Learning to Skateboard in a Warzone (If You’re a Girl),” a tremendous ode to the power of sports to boost girls’ self-esteem and set them free from the shackles of the limited expectations.
This shrewd sci-fi horror franchise is as sharp as ever as it reaches yet further down into the unpleasant flipside of the American myth. A rare prequel that doesn’t feel superfluous.
