Tag: Film Strips
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Best of the Decade: Darren Aronofsky’s ‘Black Swan’ (2010)

What gave Black Swan its most enduring legacy (aside from the seemingly endless font of memes it inspired that year) was its unique twist on the psychological thriller. A nod to the Michael Powell-Emeric Pressburger classic, The Red Shoes, Darren Aronofsky’s film tells the story of Nina Sayres, a corps dancer who dreams of becoming…
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Music to Move the Stars: Damien Chazelle’s ‘La La Land’ is a Dizzying Confection of Dreamy Nostalgia

For nearly the past twenty years or so, movie-musicals have seen a resurgence in the public consciousness. One such film that has done so, and with as much fanfare (or perhaps even more so), is none other than Damien Chazelle’s own ambitious take, La La Land (2016). Chazelle’s second attempt at a musical (after his…
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Brief Encounter: Richard Linklater’s ‘Before’ Films Stand the Test of Time

Those who know me personally (or have read my literary blog, starts & stops.) might also know of my particularly soft spot for Richard Linklater’s Before trilogy. (And when I say soft, I mean like…ooey-gooey-caramel-filled-Stroopwafel-melting-atop-your-espresso soft.) (Yeah…that soft.) (Can you tell what I’ve just been snacking on before typing this?) (This is a lot of…
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For Art’s Sake: ‘Black Swan’ and ‘Memoirs of a Geisha’ Explore the Line Between Art and Self-Destruction

How must one transform oneself in order to be fulfilled as an artist, especially if one is a woman? And what sacrifices must be made in order for that to happen? Welcome to the first installment of FILM STRIPS, where I share with you some of my favorites and hopefully have some fun deconstructing them…

