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Michael Greer, Out and Proud in Hollywood
You may not have heard of him, but Michael Greer managed to make a modest but impressive dent in the oppressively straight world of cinema in the late '60s and early '70s. Greer went from comedy clubs to the silver screen without ever pretending he was anything other than what he was – unabashedly out of the closet.
Down Low Down Under: Homoeroticism in Australian Cinema
Take a dip into the world of Australian cinema’s homoerotic undertones – from Mad Max to The Rover. A country so manly that in some ways it’s like masculinity folded in on itself and emerged as a new beast.
I Watched It So You Don't Have To: Myra Breckinridge
Myra Breckinridge is indeed a failure of an adaptation, yet I suspect the intensity of the vitriol towards this film is about something beyond just the admittedly poor direction; most likely it has more to do with the unconscious biases Vidal set out to skewer to begin with.
I Watched It So You Don't Have To: Martyrs
The charges against Martyrs range from misogyny, to torture porn, to support for getting what you want by any means necessary. It’s an unsettling and rightfully polarizing film, but I'd like to take a closer look at what exactly it is saying, and how many (if any) of these claims have validity.
Double Feature: The Stylish and Violent Op Art Future We Deserve (Clockwork Orange & The 10th Victim)
That's right folks, pretty soon we'll be able to violently murder each other next to some sweet-ass concentric circles, just like our forefathers envisioned. You might scoff, but we've been dreaming of this future for a long time.
This Is Indeed a Disturbing Universe: Movies for Our Troubled Times
Staring into the realm of existential horror can actually be quite liberating, and there’s no surer cure for deep-rooted anxiety than fully embracing nihilism and toasting the end of the world. Join me as we take a closer look at First Reformed, Arlington Road and In The Intense Now / No Intenso Agora.
The Coca-Cola Kid and the Corporate Comforts of Selling Out
The Coca-Cola Kid was largely forgotten by time for a multitude of reasons. But it's Jenna’s suspicion that the movie got such a mixed reception due to the fact that, while we'll rarely admit it, subconsciously we all kinda love our advertising overlords.
Double Feature: Capitalism Kills (Thoroughbreds & Cheap Thrills)
We’re killing Capitalism before it kills us with a double feature of Thoroughbreds and Cheap Thrills, both of which skewer, roast, and serve up the worst parts of capitalism on a metal spike.
Double Feature: Manga in Chains (Female Prisoner Scorpion & Riki-Oh)
Based on a manga? Check. Strong, silent protagonist? Check. Prisons? Check. Rage against The Man? Check. Riki-Oh: The Story of Ricky and the Female Prisoner Scorpion movies complement each other perfectly as showcases of Japanese and Hong Kong cinema at the zenith of their age.
Double Feature: Girl Getters Get Got in '64 (The Girl Getters & A Hard Day's Night)
In this double feature we're focusing on A Hard Day's Night and The System / Girl-Getters. Two British movies that came out in the same year and surprisingly have more in common than you'd first think.
Bad Girls, Bad Girls, Whatcha Gonna Do?
Girls: some are good, some are bad, and some are just trying to figure their own shit out. An exploration of Throughbreds, Ixcanul and A Fantastic Woman.
Double Feature: It's Outta Control (Killing of a Sacred Deer & A Serious Man)
Take control and watch a double feature of The Killing of a Sacred Deer with A Serious Man. Sure to throw you into at least the most basic of existential turmoil, if not some sort of nervous breakdown.
I Watched It So You Don't Have To: La Grande Bouffe
La Grande Bouffe is a movie that drags out all of the worst qualities in humanity and society, mixes them with our most base and unpleasant bodily functions, and then wallows in them all like pigs in shit.
Double Feature: Female Anxiety, Celebrity Edition (I, Tonya & Amy)
Veronica takes a look at I, Tonya and Amy in this latest double feature with a focus on celebrity female anxiety as its theme.
Repulsion at Catherine Deneuve and Roman Polanski
In light of Deneuve's comments on #MeToo, Jenna muses on how it is that somebody so close to Repulsion could somehow miss this point of the movie entirely.
Movies that Fear the Future: Before We Vanish, Antiviral and Mindhack
There is a spectrum for how humans think of the future: at one end are the people who look forward to Mars colonies and widely available sex robots, and at the other end is the Unabomber. Before We Vanish, Antiviral and Mindhack #savetheworld teeter somewhere in-between completely fatalistic and blindly idealistic.
Annihilation Review: A Refraction of Mortality
Alex Garland's Annihilation is engaging and creepy, yet a little more on the horror-concept side than truly enlightening sci-fi to me. TL;DR I came for Stalker but I got reverse Solaris.
Cynthia Rothrock: The Blonde Fury of Hong Kong
Two-and-a-half decades before the stars of Charlize Theron and Uma Thurman had risen, there was a little girl from Delaware who, with a little perseverance and a whole lot of talent, took Hong Kong by storm.
Back Row's First Year in Movie Reviews, Articles & Lists
Happy birthday to you, Happy birthday to you,
You look like a monkey and you smell like one too
I Watched It So You Don't Have To: A Serbian Film
With graphic violence, rape, drugs, pedophilia and necrophilia, Veronica watched A Serbian Film so you don't have to. But maybe you actually should.