Carole Lombard: First Lady of Screwball (and Much More!)

by Cláudio Alves

The Criterion Channel is honoring Carole Lombard with one of their latest collections. This curated sample of eleven films illuminates different talents in the Old Hollywood star's repertoire, from her comedic chops to less heralded, though not less excellent, work in melodramas. While she's best remembered as the queen of the screwball genre thanks to films like My Man Godfrey, Lombard was a multifaceted actress whose range deserves to be remembered. While her life was cut short by a tragic plane crash in 1942, the starlet's filmography is a thing of beauty, vast and distinctive, full of treasures to discover and enjoy…

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Queersighted: Breaking Taboos on the Criterion Channel

by Cláudio Alves

O FANTASMA (2000)

For the past few years, the Criterion Channel has highlighted taboo-breaking pictures in queer cinema with their series "Queersighted." For its fourth edition, programmer Michael Koresky invited film critic K. Austin Collins to select and discuss a series of works that look at film history through a decidedly queer lens. This year's installment features movies that go from 1930s Hollywood productions to 2000s Portuguese provocations. Controversial and wildly transgressive, these films run a gamut of genres and formalistic approaches, showcasing how it's possible to push the envelope both from within the Hays Code-abiding studio system and the vanguard of New German Cinema.

Before saying farewell to Pride Month 2021, join us in exploring ten films presented in this program...

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Emmy Ballots Are Here!

By Abe Friedtanzer

 

It’s one of the most enlightening days of Emmy season – all the ballots are now officially available. I’ve spent a good chunk of time perusing all the program and performers submitted, and you should feel free to do the same here. There’s plenty to unpack and so much that I’m sure I’ll realize I missed later on (including how many nominees there will now be per category based on math), but for now, let’s go through some highlights of what’s been confirmed, what’s changed, and what’s worth noting… 

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Streaming Review: "Changing the Game"

by Nathaniel R

Mack loves to wrestle but he's forced to do it on the girls team

It can take movies a long time to make it from regional cinephile parties (aka film festivals) to mass consumption via streaming services / movie theaters. Even longer if there's extenuating circumstances like, oh, a pandemic. Case in point, the trans youth sports documentary Changing the Game which just started streaming on Hulu. I first saw the film in the summer of 2019 at the Austin Gay and Lesbian Film Festival where I served on the jury (that's me waving at the end). We awarded it Best Documentary Feature. 

The conversations around trans youth, as well as trans men and women in sports, have only gotten louder in the intervening two years so in some ways it's right on time. Herewith from my original take...

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"Loki" Episodes 1 & 2

By Ben Miller

The runaway success of the Marvel Cinematic Universe inevitably spread to television earlier this year.  Following the smashing debut of WandaVision and the meh that was The Falcon and the Winter Soldier, Marvel turns their attention to everyone’s favorite God of Mischief, Loki.

Starring Tom Hiddleston as the titular God, the show picks up right where we last saw Loki alive: absconding with the space stone following the alternate timeline Battle of New York from Avengers: Endgame.

Let’s dive in on the first two episodes.  Warning: SPOILERS AHEAD

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