A Shrew Tamed: Shakespeare and the Necessity of Loose Adaptations

The dilemma of adaptation is whether it is necessary to adapt fully or loosely and whether the intent is to honor or update the material.

Analysis, ReviewsLeon SorrentoOctober 30, 2024Shakespeare, 10 Things I Hate About You, Kiss Me Kate, The Taming of the ShrewComment

“I Think She’s Got a Bright Future” Kristen Stewart + Olivier Assayas

Kristen Stewart is always interesting to watch, a preternaturally intelligent, intuitive actress, Olivier Assayas understood this earlier than most, and no discussion of Stewart’s gifts as an artist (nor indeed a discussion of how those gifts went from mocked to embraced) can overlook the two films she made with Assayas, Clouds of Sils Maria (2014) and Personal Shopper (2016).

AnalysisChristopher GilesAugust 5, 2024Kristen Stewart, Olivier Assayas, Twilight, Clouds of Sils Maria, Personal ShopperComment

It Follows and Sleeping with People

Ten years ago, David Robert Mitchell’s It Follows premiered at the 2014 Cannes Film Festival. After a decade of rewatches, if It Follows is about anything, it’s about people who wanna get laid. Vibe prone, quiet, the basic plot is simple, but the film’s strength is its mournful ambiguity.

AnalysisMonte MonrealJuly 25, 2024it follows, horror, david robert mitchell Comment

Zerograd: Life in Soviet Surreality

Taking advantage of this period of artistic semi-freedom, director Karen Shakhnazarov made Zerograd in 1988, a Kafkaesque satire of life under authoritarian rule that draws attention to the surreal nature of a government actively attempting to resuscitate what was already on its way out.

Analysis, ReviewsKellen LoweJuly 9, 2024Zerograd, Karen Shakhnazarov, Leonid FilatovComment

The Global Eccentricity of Tsui Hark and Wicked City

Embracing global cinema has the ability to cross cultural and cinematic barriers: how the filmmaker uses action and visual storytelling as a universal language, how the filmmaker connects their personal story to broader themes, and how the filmmaker embraces the absurdity of the world around us. In Tsui Hark’s Wicked City (1992), we have one of global cinema’s finest and oddest examples.

Analysis, ReviewsDylan SamuelJuly 1, 2024Tsui Hark, Wicked CityComment

“I Love the Sound of Breaking Glass”: Jacques Tati’s Playtime

Jacques Tati’s Playtime (1967) remains a masterpiece of visual comedy reminding viewers of our own contemporary constructions that threaten to engulf us.

Reviews, AnalysisPaul FeinsteinJune 26, 2024Jacques Tati, Playtime, France, French New WaveComment

Baby Blood: Make Pregnancy Gross Again

Baby Blood transgressively counters the ever so nauseating idealized, kitsch aesthetic of pregnancy that we are accustomed to. The kitsch aesthetic of pregnancy arises out of societal expectations of what a mother should be, transforming what is a neutral occurrence into a moral imperative. The horror aesthetic in Baby Blood turns these expectations on their head, creating a narrative that encourages the pregnant character to refuse all repressive expectations of motherhood and pregnancy she encounters.

Analysis, ReviewsShayna NowickiMay 28, 2024Baby Blood, Alain RobakComment

Carl Weathers made Predator’s Dillon a son of a bitch worth mourning

Predator (1987) is, in its own quiet way, an actor’s movie. And then there’s the late, great Carl Weathers, whose soldier-turned-CIA-creep Dillon is the most complex character in Predator—a role that sees Weathers thread a tricky dramatic needle with skill and panache.

Saltburn, The Talented Mr. Ripley, and Class Relations on Film

Since Saltburn’s 2022 release, critics have noted it’s similarities to The Talented Mr. Ripley, often for worse.

Domestic Discontent: Todd Haynes and the American Housewife

A deep dive into the figure of the American housewife in Todd Haynes’ films.

Musings on Bimbos

One need only look at the Blockbuster hit of the past summer, Barbie, to see that the Bimbo is once again gracing our screens.

Spawn of the Dead

2004 brought two prolific genre directors reanimating the Romero legacy for the 21st century, with wildly different approaches, at almost exactly the same time.

AnalysisMike JohnsonMarch 4, 2024Dawn of the Dead, Shaun of the Dead, Zach Snyder, Edgar Wright, George RomeroComment

Sad Girl (™) Core: Priscilla and Marie Antoinette in Conversation

Let Sofia Coppola make a movie about every woman who’s ever lived.

Ascending Art: Elevator to the Gallows and Miles Davis

Miles Davis’ breathtaking trumpet score elevates Louis Malle’s 1958 Elevators to the Gallows to a mid-century classic, enshrining a moment of musical evolution in film.

AnalysisLevi MethvinSeptember 5, 2023Elevator to the Gallows, Miles Davis, Louis Malle, Jeanne Moreau, French New Wave, JazzComment

Ghost in the Shell (1995): Destroying the Illusion of Self

Mamoru Oshii’s Ghost in the Shell (1995) interrogates the idea of self, collective and non-self, marrying Buddhist and Abrahamic philosophies.

AnalysisAP DwivediAugust 22, 2023Ghost in the Shell, Mamoru Oshii, animeComment

Paul Schrader Movie Mad Lib

Paul Schrader’s movies follow such a clear formula that you can make a Madlibs from it. In fact, we did just that, roping in a couple of other Hyperreal contributors to imagine their own Schrader movies.

AnalysisForest DeLozierJuly 10, 2023Comment

Dissonant Assemblages: Martine Syms' The African Desperate

The African Desperate is indisputably a comedy, but the visceral feelings it elicits span the spectrum. There is an uneasy undercurrent to the whole film that unmoors all of its relationships and hints at all types of violence.

AnalysisJulia HebnerJune 26, 2023Comment