7 years ago
Xavier Dolan 10
“The Decline of the American Empire” at 30
Angelo Muredda looks back at Denys Arcand's "The Decline of the American Empire" on its 30th anniversary.
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Persona of Interest: “Tom at the Farm”
In a tense scene in writer-director Xavier Dolan’s Tom at the Farm, the hulking Francis (Pierre-Yves Cardinal), his muscular form not hidden by his suit, pushes his deceased brother’s diminutive boyfriend Tom (Dolan), to the corner of a bathroom stall. They ar...
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“Gerontophilia”
The two closest points of reference for Gerontophilia, Canadian indie stalwart Bruce LaBruce’s latest, happen to be Xavier Dolan and Gregg Araki — though it’s not because of the gayness. While all three auteurs gravitate towards stories of love and loss with a...
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The Single Cinephile’s Guide to Anti-Valentine’s Day Films
To give you a sense of how I feel about Valentine’s Day, I’ll share two short stories. First, a couple years ago, I had a “platonic” Valentine, for whom I prepared Hershey kisses by removing the paper tags in each and replaced them with various lyrics from Elt...
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Cine-Math: 5 Film Equations
Let it be known that I exist purely to subvert all of the Asian stereotypes: I quit karate, I can't speak a lick of Chinese, a quit violin, and, much to the chagrin of others', I can't do math for the life of me. So, what have I left other than the movies? Cin...
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“Mommy”
Xavier Dolan has a message for his detractors: “Eat my shorts.”
Literally, it’s right there in the opening frame of the 25-year-old French-Canadian’s new film, Mommy: a close-up on a teenage boy’s shiny pair of boxers, hanging in the breeze on a suburban Qu...
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Fade to Red: The Desire of Xavier Dolan
Things are sweeter when they're lost. I know—because once I wanted something and got it. It was the only thing I ever wanted badly, Dot, and when I got it, it turned to dust in my hand.” —F. Scott Fitzgerald, The Beautiful and Damned
Words fly fast and furiou...
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To Half and Half Not: The Films to Remember from 2010 – 2014
The end of the year is, undoubtedly, a time of reflection: what we’ve experienced, what we’ve learned, how many resolutions we broke and what we’re going to do to rectify that, etc. It is also the time of lists. Lists, lists, lists. The internet in mid to late...
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Video Essay: Style as Substance – The Style of Xavier Dolan
For the past year or so, I've vehemently defended the work of Xavier Dolan, the 25-year-old Quebecois director who recently won the Cannes Jury Prize for his fifth film, Mommy. The arguments against him are usually the same: his films are mawkish and maudlin, ...
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Outfest 2014 Roundup: “Tom at the Farm,” “The Foxy Merkins,” “Salvation Army,” and More
The 2014 iteration of Outfest, Los Angeles' premier LGBTQIAetc film festival, has now come and gone. For 10 days, West Hollywood was abuzz with new movies that explore all manner of non-heteronormative characters, topics, and ideas. Here are capsule reviews of...
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