7 years ago
Roman Polanski 10
“Macbeth” Is Closer to Bro-etry Than Poetry
For a minor auteurist work, Roman Polanski’s adaptation of Macbeth may be one of the most influential films of the last 45 years. Polanski’s brutal vision brought Shakespeare’s grisly play back to its roots, retaining the prose but dispensing with the trite so...
Read more →
Adult Beginners: “Chinatown”
Every other week, Alissa Wilkinson looks back at an iconic piece of cinema in the Adult Beginners column. The twist? She's watching each of these films for the first time, approaching them with fresh eyes and mature context. This week, she's discussing Chinato...
Read more →
The Cult of Tom Cruise
Tom Cruise imbues every performance with an exciting amount of personality and charisma. There is no one more fun to watch onscreen on a consistent basis. Yet the world remembers: He still jumped on Oprah’s couch.
Despite a prolific career, years of apologizi...
Read more →
Sex and Death on Film 101
Sexual education in North American schools is lacklustre to say the least, slowly progressing and occasionally spouting misinformation (it’s supposed to be HOW big?). As a result, many young people first learn about sex and related issues from movies and telev...
Read more →
All That Jazz: 5 Great Jazz Scores
Amidst the praise of Whiplash (now on Blu-ray and DVD) comes a contemplation of music in film, specifically that fantastically dynamic, American genre called jazz. Throughout cinema history, jazz has been employed to pervade films’ settings with an eclectic ra...
Read more →
Once More, With Feeling: The Best Film Restorations of 2014
It's time to kiss 2014 goodbye (or kick its ass out the door, depending on how well your year went) and furiously compile our Best-Of lists, as film people are wont to do. Obviously most people focus on ranking the best new releases of the year ("release" bein...
Read more →
“Venus in Fur” A Vibrant, Rich Drama Full of Meta Twists
The later years of Roman Polanski’s career, after the turn of the century, have taken him to vastly different highs and lows. From his somber, Palme-winning WWII epic to the chilling, seaside world of British politics, the unimaginative adaptation of a beloved...
Read more →
History of Film: ‘Chinatown’
Jake Gittes is an origin story for characters like Sam Spade and Philip Marlowe.
Read more →
The 29th Warsaw Film Festival Ends
Yet another Film Festival has come to its end: the 29th Warsaw Film Festival that ran from 11 to 20 October, concluded with Venus in Fur, Roman Polanski’s new film. Indeed, the Polish audience was happy to greet its fellow countryman who was supposed to presen...
Read more →
Netflix Instant Picks 5/3/13—5/9/13
Every week at Movie Mezzanine, we pick some of the best films currently on Netflix Instant in the United States and Canada. Whether they are big releases or hidden gems, these movies make your subscription worth the price. From each library we select one Newly...
Read more →
