ESSAYS

September 28, 2010

Cronenberg’s discourse through Videodrome and eXistenZ

This essay will explore the duality of Cronenberg’s works, as a statement on man’s curiosity and an open window to the unknown in Videodrome and eXistenZ.
February 27, 2018

On the dopeness of Black Panther

I’ve been excited about Black Panther from the moment I heard about it. Anything that involves Our Lady Lupita (you know her as Lupita Nyong’o) get me psyched. I adore Lupita—and the fact that she can actually spit some bars is icing on a fine cake.
October 1, 2010

African cinema, Ousmane Sembene and the Western gaze

In its perspectives and traditions, African cinema draws the spectator into its narrative, nurturing a symbiotic relationship with life itself.
March 22, 2010

Alice Doesn’t Live Here Anymore (Martin Scorsese, 1974)

It was a pleasant surprise to see Alice doesn’t live here anymore. Is it a feminist film? Can a male filmmaker look at a woman through a female perspective?
March 26, 2010

Felicidades (Lucho Bender, 2000)

In Felicidades,several lives intersect on Christmas Eve in Buenos Aires as they all strive not to spend the holidays alone.
March 22, 2010

The Journey (Fernando E. Solanas, 1992)

Argentina has one of the most impressive cinematography in the world. Within that cinema, Fernando E. Solanas is a director of seminal importance. In his essay, Towards a Third cinema, Solanas and his co-writer, Octavio Getino, galvanize the overall revolutionary ideas of the time into the concept of a decolonization cinema, denouncing the weak, liberal arts that have, up until […]
September 28, 2010

Coming Home: Melodrama and social change

David Ehrenstein condemns melodramas like Coming Home for perpetuating the illusion that they can affect social change instead of creating real change.
September 28, 2010

Flowers of Shanghaï (Hsiao-Hsien Hou, 1998)

Hou Hsiao Hsien’s depiction of life in Flowers of ShanghaÏ explores the inherent contradictions in the era’s Chinese society.
September 30, 2010

Central Station and the Cinema Novo tradition

Central Station is one of the most popular and internationally acclaimed Brazilian films of the 1990s. It heralded a renaissance in Brazilian cinema.
October 1, 2010

The African diaspora: Colonialism and displacement

The transatlantic slave trade was one of the most disruptive acts in history, separating Africans from their backgrounds, traditions, and identities. This has had a significant impact on diaspora films.
June 3, 2011

In defence of criticism: The case of The Hangover Part II

“Most critics really don’t get it.”, as they say. I feel compelled to respond to the casual filmgoers who don't understand the critic’s perspective.
September 28, 2010

In the Mood for Love (Wong Kar-wai, 2000)

Wong Kar-Wai is considered influential. In the Mood for Love (2000) was a big commercial success for him. How does it compare to Wong Kar-Wai’s other work?