8 years ago
All posts by James Blake Ewing
The Second Criterion: ‘The Seventh Seal’
Everybody dies. The great mystery, the question people ask, is what happens after death. How you answer it (or, in many cases, ignore it) might be the most defining trait of how you see and think about the world. It certainly is for the characters of The Seven...
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History of Film: Ridley Scott’s ‘Blade Runner’
Blade Runner is a reminder that some films deserve a second chance. At its initial release the film was a flop. To be fair, the theatrical cut of the film contained an unnecessary Harrison Ford voiceover as well as an ending that felt a bit too conventional fo...
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The Second Criterion: ‘Days of Heaven’
In any Terrence Malick film, themes are essential to understanding his film. While his later work are overt about their ideas -- The Tree of Life presents the entire thesis of the film in voiceover -- Days of Heaven is the film I’ve always found his most diffi...
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The Second Criterion: ‘Paris, Texas’
In Paris, Texas, Travis (Harry Dean Stanton) is defined by the pain of the past. In the opening shot, the desolation of the desert surrounds him as his weary eyes gaze ahead. It’s clear he's in deep pain, but as the film evolves, we discover that Travis has al...
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The Second Criterion: ‘Black Narcissus’
While ideas of culture and religion are important to Black Narcissus, the more I watch the film, the more I see these ideas as a means for the film to explore the tension between discipline and desire. The cultural conflict between the West and the East, the c...
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The Second Criterion: ‘Certified Copy’
I could write a book on this film. Abbas Kiarostami’s Certified Copy is one of those rare films that continues to yield more and more meaning, nuance and depth for me with each viewing. I’ve already written about the idea of originality both in art and life in...
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The Second Criterion: ‘In the Mood for Love’
It’s difficult to write about In the Mood for Love in terms of theme because much of the film is concerned with ephemeral, almost inexpressible feelings. Still, the characters’ quest for understanding and the relationship that forms out of that creates an inte...
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The Monstrosity of Man
Guillermo del Toro loves monsters. He’s confessed this love in numerous interviews and said that the promise of a monster draws him to every project he does. But why monsters? What is about them that fires the mind of a creator like del Toro? Part of it is tha...
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Second Criterion: ‘Blow Out’
In the opening minutes of Blow Out, Brian De Palma presents one of cinema’s great misdirects. What starts off as a poorly made slasher film is all a ruse. It’s a film that the protagonist of Blow Out is working on. Jack Terry (John Travolta) is a sound editor....
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The Second Criterion: ‘Three Colors: Blue’
When France commissioned director Krzystof Kieslowski to make a film trilogy about the three virtues represented by the colors of the French flag: Liberty, Equality and Fraternity, they probably wanted him to celebrate these virtues. Instead, Kieslowski decide...
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