film criticism by maryann johanson | since 1997
Two new documentaries — one a shrewdly incisive work of journalism, the other a delicately elegant tale of injustice and friendship — tell all-but-forgotten histories of Black America. Of America.
I suspect these essays hit me hard because how we see and think about the world is changing rapidly and dramatically as everything pauses during the coronavirus pandemic…
“We hope that these photos encourage viewers to reflect on the way that stereotypes persist in mass culture….”
Snappy Sorkin-esque banter, 80s nostalgia, and Hugh Jackman in a bad wig yet still hot as hell. But also an enraging, ironic look at how a reality-TV resume ended up becoming a legit qualification for the American presidency.
Women fall for aliens, older men, and the mad power of running a major newspaper.
Taraji P. Henson and Meryl Streep are doing men’s work in wide release, with small films from Europe, the Middle East, and South America highlighting women in limited release.
Crackles with life and energy, depicting a grand adventure in journalism from almost half a century ago with vigor, suspense, and an urgent relevance for today.
The relationship between the studios and critics has always been a contentious one, for obvious reasons, but what might have been previously called a cold war has hotted up this year…
A passionate and intense drama — fueled by a fierce Jeremy Renner — that furiously underscores the problem of lickspittle corporate “journalism.”
Yet more solid proof of a major problem with how women are represented onscreen. Not that we needed it… [This post is not behind the paywall.]
