The Fantabulous Style of "Birds of Prey"

by Cláudio Alves

There was a time when super-hero movies were colorful circuses of artifice and joy. Remember the pop iconography of Christopher Reeves' Superman, Tim Burton's Batman or the Punk stylings of Tank Girl? It all changed with the dawn of the 21st century. X-Men brought on an era of heroes dressed in many tedious iterations of leather jumpsuits, while Christopher Nolan's Dark Knight trilogy made grittiness cool again. Explosions of poppy color were out and grim pseudo-realism was in.

The DC Comics flicks took the trend to its desaturated limit, but even the MCU is guilty of indulging in this aesthetic stagnation. Fortunately, some films break the convention, be it the Afrofuturistic haute couture of Black Panther or Aquaman's glitzy excess. We can add Birds of Prey to that elite club of stylish super-hero flicks…

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Movie Watching in Quarantine Times

by Murtada Elfadl

With all of us self isolating in quarantine the daily question of what to watch gains even more importance. Not only do you want to watch something good and entertaining but also something that will engross and really distract and take you away from the reality of the grave situation we are living in. Something soothing and comforting above all, however you never know where comfort might come from. 

Last night I thought a comedy was in order and based on Wes Anderson’s recommendation in a sweet email to The Criterion Channel I chose Arthur Hiller’s The-Out-of-Towners (1970) with Jack Lemmon and Sandy Denis. However I turned it off 15 minutes into the film. Lemmon constantly yelling his entitlement was not comforting nor funny. The rants were well written and the situations would have probably been funny in another context. But not at this time.

Last week the movie was Francois Trauffaut’s The Last Metro (1980)...

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Complete the Sentence(s)...

The last movie I saw in theaters was ___________. When movie theaters reopen I will _____________. 

Congrats to La Pfeiffer and "Henry Rose"

Michelle Pfeiffer's personal passion project, her unisex fragrances named after her son and daughter, have received terrific press since premiering about a year ago. They're far out of our price range but we wanted to say congratulations as they've recently received the Glamour 2020 Beauty Award for Best Fragrance and have also been doing well with men's magazines, too, logging strong sales for men's fragrances.

Filming French ExitWe didn't suspect that the reclusive goddess would stick around social media after launching her Instagram to support the fragrances but something about it suited her whims (yay!) and she has been fairly consistent since. She's not an oversharer, obviously, but it's a steady trickle. After years and years of scarcity for pfans it's nice to have her become something of a regular celebrity presence again. Plus her cat is soooo fluffy. We love.

Months before the novel coronavirus shut down Hollywood she completed work on her next leading lady role in French Exit. While the movie was expected to be released this fall in time for Oscar season we suspect that no films will have anything like secure release dates given how many have now been delayed. We'll just have to wait and see if and when Pfeiffer returns to the Oscar race at last.

All hail the great Glenda Jackson!

by Cláudio Alves 

50 years ago, Ken Russell's Women in Love was released in US theaters after having already opened in the UK the year before. Accusations of obscenity and licentiousness followed the picture across the Atlantic and, as it usually happens, polemic was a good catalyst for popularity. Nowadays, such arthouse offerings rarely get mainstream attention but the America of 1970 was a different place as far as moviegoing was concerned. In a time of radical change in society and tastes, Women in Love's tale of bohemian affairs, sexual candor and class hierarchies in 20s England was warmly received by critics and audiences alike. The performance of Glenda Jackson was of particular fame and catapulted the actress to the pantheon of celebrity.

So much so that, by April of 1971, she won the Oscar for Best Actress. To this day, it's one of the weirdest victories in the category's history…

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