Doc Corner: The First Female Film Director in 'Be Natural: The Untold Story of Alice Guy-Blaché'

By Glenn Dunks

For a film about a little-known name of early silent cinema, Be Natural: The Untold Story of Alice Guy-Blaché sure does come out of the gates swinging. Swinging and sweeping and swooping and spinning and kicking and ecstatically careening through the streets of Paris. The opening passages of Pamela B. Green’s revelatory documentary are so frenetically paced that it’s almost exhausting. When I posited that none other than Baz Luhrmann’s Moulin Rouge! was an inspiration, the film’s own Twitter feed confirmed it. Indeed.

And it’s not just the opening, too. The entirety of this film is surprisingly fast-paced, often editing its collage of film clips, archival video, contemporary exploration and talking heads into a dizzying soup of cinematic nostalgia...

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Soundtracking: Her Smell

by Chris Feil

It’s not incorrect to call Alex Ross Perry’s Her Smell a musical, it just feels like a simple categorization doesn’t contain all of the levels that the film operates on. It’s also King Lear on downstairs cocaine, a Cassavettes character study, and an epic saga of female friendship. And of course it’s also a subtle period piece, unfolding over the years when Spin magazine reigned supreme, bad behavior was a natural extension of star persona, and grunge and punk excesses converged into a million different stylistic offshoots.

But music remains the film’s connective tissue, whether it is pushed to the background by the impossible behavior of Elisabeth Moss’s demonic antihero Becky Something or returns because of her genius. What makes it all work is that the music feels authentic both to the period and the specific, fractious aesthetic Perry is going for.

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Top 10: Nicole Kidman Vanity Fair Covers

by Mark Brinkerhoff

Australian Gold Rush. La Femme Nicole. Thoroughbred. The Lioness. Beguiling. Intoxicating. Spellbinding. Legend. Star.

Since first appearing in the pages of Vanity Fair as a newly-arrived, 23-year-old, soon-to-be breakout Hollywood star (circa July 1990, pictured above), Kidman has become one of the magazine’s favorite cover girls. In fact, the June 2019 issue marks the 10th time Kidman has graced the cover—seven solo and three as part of an ensemble (i.e. the annual Hollywood Issue)—not to mention assorted V.F. Hollywood portfolios over the years.

To commemorate Kidman’s milestone, let’s count down to the finest of our Vanity Fairest — a Tuesday Top 10...

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The New Classics - Sexy Beast

Michael Cusumano here to revisit one of the most indelible performances of 2001 for our new series "The New Classics"...

Scene: Don Logan converses with his reflection

How many viewings of Jonathan Glazer’s Sexy Beast does it take before you realize Don Logan is the most sympathetic character in the movie?  

Don shows up in Spain with two missions: to reconnect with his old friend Gal, and to see if he has a shot with his lost love, Jackie. And what does he find? Not only does his friend attempt to blow him off, but the object of his affection is married to some spineless twit and can’t stand so much as to look at him. My heart goes out to the guy...

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Watch at Home: The insane "Serenity" and "Extremely Wicked" Zac Efron

Nathaniel R giving you the heads up on what's available to you now to screen at home.

Newish on DVD/Blu-Ray
• Serenity - Must be seen to be believed. We can't wait for it to hit streaming and watch the masses catch on to this new camp classic.
• Tickled - Unsure why this famous doc about fetish videos and the shady man who produced them took 3 years to end up on DVD.
• The Gospel According to André - well-reviewed fashion doc.

Also new: Taraji P Henson hears What Men Want, Gina Rodriguez gets kidnapped in the remake of Miss Bala, Mads Mikkelsen freezes in Arctic, and Everybody Knows something or other about Penelope Cruz and Javier Bardem. Great iTunes deals and new to streaming after the jump... 

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