Critical Flashback
Freud and “The Departed”
Through its reliance on Freudian psychology, “The Departed” examines psychological issues that affect the actions of the characters, Sgt. Sullivan, Billy Costigan, and Madolyn. Consequently, the three main characters are imprisoned by their own psychological hindrances, which eventually lead to their dark fates.
Critical Flashback: Vertigo (1958)
Because Hitchcock is an auteur, he treats each scene and character with craft and ensures that everything projected onto the screen is purposeful to the plot and experience shared by viewers. This discussion will focus on the sequence when Scotty Ferguson begins his serious pursuit of Madeleine Elster starting from outside the flower shop and concluding with the museum scene.
The Corleone Legacy: A Challenge to Post-War Neo-Gangsterism
Are the Corleones really the model gangster family? Though the Corleones are presented as the protagonists of the film, in adjusting to the changing conventions of gangsterism they represent the antithesis of how organized crime should be conducted.
When Dark Comedy Gets Too Dark
What happens when comedy delivers more than we can stomach? After reviewing “Trading Places,” let’s investigate the current state of comedy.
Barry Lyndon: Reconsidering an Unappreciated Gem
A discussion on why Kubrick’s lesser known masterpiece deserves to be recognized as one of his best films.
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Ethics in Newspaper Movies
Every film has a different code of ethics for its newspaper, reporter, editor, and even its subjects. The most recent newspaper movie, “State of Play”, reminded us of just how downright dirty editors and reporters on film can be.
Critical Flashback: Dreamscape (1984)
After a patient mysteriously dies in her sleep during dream therapy, gifted psychic Alex Gardner (Dennis Quaid) decides to investigate the man in charge, Dr. Paul Novotny (Max Von Sydow). Gardner later learns that Dr. Novotny is sending assassins into patients’ dreams to have them killed.
Critical Flashback: Eyes Wide Shut (1999)
One of the most intriguing expressions of the sanctity of the human body, Stanley Kubrick’s “Eyes Wide Shut” functions as a paranoid, psychosexual mind-warp. But what was Kubrick really trying to say?