In Nocturnal Animals, the sting of a paper cut can penetrate way below the dermal level. Directed and written by Tom Ford, the film, based on the book Tony and Susan, by Austin Wright, demonstrates that a seemingly slight abrasion can turn into a deep, male-inflicted wound, underscoring the movie’s key questions: how do we […]
Archetypes: Film: Review: ‘Loving’ (2016)
Occasionally real-life events enter the fray adorned with the sort of proverbial beacons that signal their relevance and even fatedness. The story captured in the quiet, gem-of-a-film Loving, written and directed by Jeff Nichols, is one such piece of historicity. It’s 1958 and the protagonists are Richard and Mildred Loving, with their surname suggesting that […]
Astrology: Film: ‘The Iceman’ (2013)
Early in The Iceman, crime boss Roy DeMeo (Ray Liotta) calls contract killer Richard Kuklinski (Michael Shannon) “cold as ice.” No one would argue that Kuklinski’s murderous proclivities emanate from the archetypal nether regions of Pluto, locked in the depths of the coldest element, earth. But what truly mesmerizes in director Ariel Vromen’s The Iceman […]
Astrology: Film: ‘Mud’ (2013)
Usually it’s female movie characters who pine away for the guys they just can’t have and interminably wait for the phone to ring. In a refreshing and sobering twist, it’s the male character in Jeff Nichols’s new movie Mud who’s unrequitedly in love. The lovelorn guy holed up on an island in the Mississippi is […]
Film: ‘Premium Rush’ (2012)
If you propelled Mercury, ancient messenger of the gods, into the 21st century, there’s a good chance he’d be a bicycle courier. Because he served the deities, he’d have to ride really fast. And he’d probably be a lot like Wilee, the speed-demon messenger in “Premium Rush.” Mercury’s domain is commerce, transportation, communication, the mind, […]