The filmmaker seems out of his depth in Theater of Thought, too willing to let his subjects make questionable claims without pushing back or delving deeper.
Film
Five Video Essays for the Holiday Season
Killer bananas, Grand Theft Auto telephone poles, online gambling, and other ways to fill a little downtime.
Art Spiegelman Won’t Shrink Back From Controversy
The artist has illustrated more than one contentious New Yorker cover in his career, chronicled in a new film, and his next project will be no less gutsy.
60 Years Before Wicked, a Movie Musical That Made Your Eyes Sing
The Umbrellas of Cherbourg is one of the most brain-quiveringly beautiful films ever to flood a screen.
The Beautiful Infinity of Tetris
A new documentary-game includes an interactive timeline, interviews, and of course, playable versions of the game.
The 25 Best Films of 2024
An eclectic round-up spanning feature-length investigative documentaries, avant-garde short films, YouTube essays, and even talk shows.
A Dazzling Light in Dance History
When dancer Loïe Fuller’s spinning garment reflected the stage lights, it took on a life of its own, beguiling those in New York, Berlin, and Paris.
The Insidious False History of Gladiator II
The film’s casting of Africa and Africans as largely rebellious, uncivil, and above all outside of the bounds of the Roman empire is incorrect and dangerous.
Doug Aitken’s Poetic Tableau of Southern California
“I wanted to make something aggressively non-linear, using sound and music to express things that hard language couldn’t,” the artist said of his latest work.
Social Bonds May Save Our Lives
Join or Die is part of a cresting wave of cultural production circling around the intertwined issues of loneliness, divisiveness, and our political right turn.
William Kentridge Sees the Universe in a Pot of Coffee
The artist tells Hyperallergic about how the isolation of COVID-19 led to a streaming series set wholly within the bounds of his studio.
Recreating Nellie Mae Rowe’s Dreamlike World
A documentary screening in NYC this week combines animation, interviews, and archival material to tell the self-taught artist’s fascinating story.