|Lucas Hardwick| **Mild spoilers ahead*** My career as a writer is successful only in the sense that I get to do it; my work is published here and there, and maybe a few hundred people read it, chuckle, and manage to get something out of it—some of it right here on this very blog. But… Continue reading
|Ed Dykhuizen| Traditionally, if you’re a character in a Hollywood movie, you have to be rich. You don’t always have to be obscenely wealthy, but you must have enough money to never worry about how you’re going to pay for whatever the plot demands you have. Even if you’re in Los… Continue reading
|Doug Carmoody| In the years prior to her leading role in Fritz Lang’s You Only Live Once, Sylvia Sidney had endured a barrage of difficult on-screen romantic partners. She was impregnated and drowned by her boyfriend in An American Tragedy, bullied into a life of alcoholism and infidelity… Continue reading
|Courtney Kowalke| I lived in my last apartment for five years and ten months. When I was allowed to work from home at the start of the coronavirus pandemic, my apartment was the center of my universe. I got out plenty, taking long walks and bike rides and drives around the city. Still… Continue reading
|Matthew Christensen| I teach film and theatre at an international high school in Japan, and have spent the last few days in tech rehearsals for our theater club’s production of Our Town. I have pulled out what little hair I have in my head handling last-minute crises—a locked door… Continue reading
|Veda Lawerence| The Warriors is based on a book (The Warriors, by Sol Yurick) which is based on a work by Xenophon (Anabasis) that details the journey of an army of ancient Greek mercenaries. Xenophon recorded the tales of his battles as a soldier in the Greek army around four… Continue reading
|John Costello| There’s something wonderful about watching a chaotic roller disco fantasia with multiple, costume-intense musical numbers in the middle of winter. As a kid watching Xanadu (1980) with my oldest sister, I loved the upbeat music and the flurry of joyous visual… Continue reading
|Chris Polley| “The neighborhood hasn’t really changed that much,” NYPD Detective William McQueen said to The New York Times in 1979 for a story about record-breaking violent crime in the Big Apple. He added, “Homicides seem to be the thing we have the least control over. Burglaries… Continue reading
|Courtney Kowalke| The day after Perisphere assigned me All That Jazz (1979) for my next film essay, the web browser on my phone recommended I read the IndieWire article “‘All That Jazz’ Is a Favorite of Fincher, Kubrick, and Scorsese—Here’s Why.” I’m not a fan of whatever… Continue reading
|Dan Howard| Bob Fosse. His name alone is engraved into the history of dance, Broadway, and cinema in works from Chicago to Cabaret. Even Michael Jackson saw him as one of his heroes. The reputation that bestowed Fosse as one of the greats was as well-known as how… Continue reading
