Orpheus in Hell: Unlicensed Film Reviews

“If there’s a book that you want to read, but it hasn’t been written yet, then you must write it.” –Toni Morrison I mourn the loss of my previous blog. It was a record of a time and place different from what came before and the present. I also mourn the loss of my old… Read more

Transit (d. Christian Petzold) Some thoughts on Transit. It offers an alternative universe where fascists are closing in on dissidents and minorities in what looks to be contemporary France. The mood harks back to WWII movies, including its unchecked orientalism. Why does Petzold set it in sun-drenched Marseilles which looks more Mediterranean than Europe? Because… Read more

Joker (d. Todd Phillips) Only Joaquin Phoenix could have played this role in a movie that exhibits a kind of sensibility very much of the present rooted in doublings. Joaquin has his dead brother’s career, River, for those who can still remember the deceased’s short-lived stardom. The film itself is the twin other of Phillip’s… Read more