Dr. Vincent M. Gaine is a film and television researcher. His first book, Existentialism and Social Engagement in the Films of Michael Mann was published by Palgrave MacMillan in 2011. His work on film and media has been published in Cinema Journal and The Journal of Technology, Theology and Religion, as well as edited collections including The 21st Century Superhero and The Directory of World Cinema.
Tax law is hardly a prepossessing topic for a comedy. Perhaps it could be the backdrop for a dour thriller or a piece of social realism, or even form the basis of a cheeky caper about slyly slipping through cracks and besting the system. But a sweet comedy about an average Joe completely baffled by…
The signs for Live by Night are promising. Ben Affleck’s previous directorial offerings — “Gone Baby Gone,” “The Town,” “Argo” — showed ever increasing confidence and skill. The period gangster sub-genre has delivered such classics as “The Godfather,” “The Godfather: Part II” and “Once Upon a Time in America.” The source material, Dennis Lehane’s epic,…
Sometimes a film comes along at the right moment, providing exactly the sort of inspiration one needs in difficult times. Such a film is A United Kingdom, the true story of Seretse Khama (David Oyelowo, “Queen of Katwe”) and Ruth Williams (Rosamund Pike, “Gone Girl”), an African tribal prince and London office clerk who married…
Oppression and fear stalk the environs of Babak Anvari’s superb Under the Shadow. Based on Anvari’s childhood experiences in Tehran during the Iran-Iraq War, Under the Shadow brings subjugation, menace and a palatable sense of dread to the screen, with a political element that is constant but never overbearing. The film’s focus is domestic, portraying…
Love. Loss. Regret. Betrayal. Pain. Memory. Revenge. Beauty. These are the oh-so-jolly palate of Nocturnal Animals, Tom Ford’s haunting, ethereal and quite extraordinary second feature. Ford crafts a remarkable, trifurcated narrative with exquisite precision, slipping between the life, memories and imagination of Susan Morrow (Amy Adams, “Arrival”) in a way that demands attention, stirs the…
From its opening shot of a house both sleek and warm to its transcendent finale, Arrival arrests attention with a grasp that is firm yet ephemeral. It is a sublime and profound experience, touching its audience on an emotional, intellectual and spiritual level, a film that declares both its originality and its ancestry. And what…
More Raça, is an up-and-coming-director with a purpose. With her shorts “Amel,” “Where is Don?” and now the more recent and well received “Home,” she shines a spotlight to the conditions and institutions to her native Kosovo. We caught up with her as her latest film, which focuses on long standing traditions and patriarchy, opens…
