The title of Jane Campion’s haunting new film, The Power of the Dog (streaming on Netflix), comes from Psalm 22 in the Bible, which reads (in the King James version), […]
Film
INDIE SCREEN
A World on the Eve of Destruction
Steven Spielberg and Tony Kushner revive West Side Story
When Jerome Robbins — born Gershon Wilson Rabinowitz on New York’s Lower East Side — first came up with the idea in 1947 for what would become the musical West […]
INDIE SCREEN
Midnight in the Cinema of Good and Evil
Three idiosyncratic new films explore human frailties and gumption
The 2016 movie Jackie, which stars Natalie Portman as Jacqueline Kennedy Onassis and is directed by the Chilean filmmaker Pablo Larraín, was an unexpected gem. It delved into the mind […]
INDIE SCREEN
Whose Legacy Is It, Anyway?
Three biographies take the lives of pivotal figures into account
Though he was an African American born into poverty in 1931 in rural Texas, picking cotton as a young child alongside his single mother, Alvin Ailey lived a life of […]
INDIE SCREEN
The Monstrous Cost of Art
Good, bad, or ugly — is it worth it?
Seeing Leonardo da Vinci’s Mona Lisa at the Louvre in Paris is a less-than-contemplative experience. The Renaissance painting is housed in the high-ceilinged Salle des États, which is filled with […]
FILM FESTIVAL 2021
Richard Linklater Is Quite Comfortable on the Edge
The Provincetown film fest celebrates Austin’s indie maestro
For filmmakers honored by the Provincetown International Film Festival, John Waters is a dream date. Waters was dubbed Filmmaker on the Edge at the festival’s debut, in 1999, and he’s […]
FILM FESTIVAL 2021
The Outer Cape’s Local Filmmakers Are a Fest Highlight
Zooming in on short documentaries by Fermín Rojas and Michael Cestaro
This year’s “hybrid” Provincetown International Film Festival — both live and virtual — marks the return of the annual event’s extraordinary bounty. There’s a rich collection of narrative and documentary […]
MOVIES
A Cape-Shot Feature Launches the Provincetown Film Fest
Screenings begin Tuesday at the Wellfleet Drive-In
“We all have loss,” says Paul Riccio, the director and co-writer of Give or Take, a new feature film shot here on Cape Cod — mostly in Orleans — that […]
INDIE SCREEN
Three Films That Alter Perceptions
With Oscar finding a new normal, documentaries lead the way
It was a strange Academy Awards in 2021. Diversity was the most visible change in the world of Oscar glitz, but the pandemic, with its enforced social distancing and lack […]
CINEMA
‘Hybrid’ Provincetown Film Fest to Honor Linklater
In a move toward normal, there will be some live screenings
Closed since the Covid lockdown in March 2020, the Waters Edge Cinema in Provincetown is finally reopening. The reason: the 2021 Provincetown International Film Festival (PIFF), which will be running […]
INDIE SCREEN
When Personal and Political Spheres Explode
Two Oscar nominees and a dazzling documentary
The testimony of Christine Blasey Ford during Congressional hearings for the confirmation of Supreme Court Justice Brett Kavanaugh in 2018 was devastating. She was as believable as a victim of […]
INDIE SCREEN
Hybrid Cinema: From Asia, With Love
Two beautiful films arise from a mix of cultural points of view
Although it has much to recommend it, the film Nomadland, which is playing in theaters (not locally) and streaming on Hulu (free to subscribers), can attribute its extraordinary success, including […]
FREE EXPRESSION
National Park Fees for Filming Struck Down
Federal judge finds rules ‘impose a chilling effect’ on free speech
PROVINCETOWN — A federal judge ruled on Jan. 22 that the collection of fees by the National Park Service (NPS) for commercial filming is a violation of free speech. This […]
INDIE SCREEN
Stories That Straddle Fact and Fiction
‘It’s only a movie’ is not always reassuring
How odd in an era of “fake news” accusations — usually a case of childish denial, or a con artist’s switcheroo — to see a movie called News of the […]
INDIE SCREEN
A Trio of Movies That Revise Romance
Set in the past, but conceived for today’s viewers
Watching the superhero movie Wonder Woman 1984 in my living room was a decidedly underwhelming experience. It has big-budget action set pieces and a surfeit of CGI magic, but they […]
