Love Streams: Criterion Collection

Based on a play by Ted Allan, Love Streams (1984) continued John Cassavetes’ fascination with the often-messy relationships between people. Sarah Lawson (Rowlands) and her husband Jack (Cassel) are in the process of getting a divorce and figuring out... 

Paris, Je T’aime

The short film, much like the short story, is an artform unto itself. It takes a certain set of skills as a storyteller to be able to tell a tale succinctly. People who make commercials have even less time. Unfortunately, outside of television stations... 

Night on Earth

Jim Jarmusch began the 1990s with Night on Earth (1991) and would go on to produce some of his strongest work with Dead Man (1995) and Ghost Dog (1999). However, these two films don’t quite have the warmth and the humanity abundant in Night on Earth.... 

The Skeleton Key

Those residents of New Orleans are really having a tough time. As if the recent hurricane disaster wasn’t bad enough, Hollywood has always dismissed the American south as a breeding ground for racism or fanatical voodoo witch-doctors. The Skeleton... 

John Cassavetes: Five Films

“Hollywood is not failing. It has failed.” John Cassavetes wrote these prophetic words in 1959 in an article entitled, “What’s Wrong with Hollywood” for Film Culture magazine. He goes on to list the symptoms of its decline: “The desperation,... 

Taking Lives: Unrated Director’s Cut

Taking Lives (2004) was released the same year as the Ashley Judd film, Twisted and shares the same dubious honor of being a generic thriller starring an extremely talented actress who should know better. So, what went wrong? The performances by the talented...