If I had to describe Cruella (2021) in one word, it would be unexpected. Everything about it — from its sympathetic portrayal of one of Disney’s most iconic villains to its 1970s London setting — feels like a curveball. But what most surprised me about this film wasn’t its third act plot twist or its… Read more »
If I had to describe Sergei Bondarchuk’s 1966 version of War and Peace in one word, it would be “big.” Almost everything about it — from its seven-hour running time to its famous battle sequences — conveys an epic scale the likes of which few films attempt, much less achieve. But while it remains famous… Read more »
Who’s Afraid of Virginia Woolf? (1966), which turns 55 on June 22nd, is best known for its performances. It features Academy Award-winning turns from Elizabeth Taylor and Sandy Dennis, as well as very effective work from Richard Burton and George Segal. But to view this film as merely a collection of great acting is to… Read more »
You might expect Pygmalion, the adaptation of George Bernard Shaw’s classic play, to not make great use of the formal potential of cinema. Its theatrical roots, as well as Shaw’s role in writing the screenplay, might lead you to think that the filmmakers would create a filmed version of the play that would be so… Read more »
Federico Fellini is famous for inventing the “self-portrait” genre of filmmaking. His 1961 masterpiece 8 ½, which is about a director modeled on Fellini himself, led other filmmakers to make films about themselves. Examples include but are not limited to Francois Truffaut’s Day for Night (1973), Bob Fosse’s All That Jazz (1979), and Pedro Almodóvar’s… Read more »
Last month, IU Press published a fascinating book. It is called Love and Loss in Hollywood: Florence Deshon, Max Eastman, and Charlie Chaplin, edited by Cooper C. Graham and Christoph Irmscher, Provost Professor of English and Director of the Wells Scholars Program at Indiana University. Aside from a few minor/undated items, the book contains every… Read more »