Tag: film criticism

Film by Alex Sheremet
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INTERIORS (1978): Woody Allen’s Most Underrated Film?

Woody Allen’s Interiors aimed higher and accomplished more than anything else the director had previously done. The film takes a kernel — a family in turmoil — and shows how characters are affected by it, as well as how they, themselves, are the contributors to the dissolution. Interiors shocked viewers upon release, for it had exactly zero comedic value, and remains one of the heaviest stories that Woody Allen has written to this day. It is also precisely what is so hated in Allen’s work, for he skewers an ‘upper crust’ family in a way that is both poetic and realistic, thus opening Allen up to criticism because ‘they’ don’t like what they see, or simply do not believe it. And yet, for all the superficial difficulty one might have with ‘getting into it’, it is, at its core, a highly complex and well-wrought drama, full of great characters, interesting symbols (the red dress at end; the black, almost cosmic tape during the first suicide attempt), and some really great psychological interplay between three sisters that would not be equaled until Hannah and Her Sisters (1986).

Yes, it’s often been derided as Woody aping Bergman, but while Bergman is clearly an influence, Allen is in no way derivative of him. Interiors partly revolves around art and its misuses; its lack of a ‘savior’ element for the characters (Eve, especially); and many of the personages, such as Joey (Mary Beth Hurt), are completely and inarguably American, in the sense that they suffer through American excess and American leisure; all of which (art’s neuroses included) have become a Woody trademark, not a Bergmanian one. Joey, in particular, is a true and fully realized ‘type,’ a ponderous, artistic wannabe that, for all of her detractors in print and online, is completely real, and can appear pretty much anywhere in life, as if from the very thinness of the space she inhabits: art cafes, jazz shows, gallery openings, and whatever else might invite such congregation. In short, the film defines its own moments, not Bergman’s, a truth which has rarely been examined at length. […]

Film by Ezekiel Yu
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Timothée Chalamet's character playing ping-pong in John Safdie's "Marty Supreme", as reviewed by poet/critic Ezekiel Yu for the automachination literary magazine.

Getting A Grip: On Josh Safdie’s “Marty Supreme” (2025)

Marty Mauser (Timothée Chalamet) isn’t the most terrible guy, but he isn’t a particularly good one, either. He lies often, behaves petulantly (nigh-fatally, even) when he doesn’t get his way, and can treat his family with condescension bordering on contempt. Rachel (Odessa A’zion), his married lover and childhood friend, worships the ground he walks on, but Marty seems to view her as little more than an accessory as he pursues his actual passion in life: professional table tennis.

Yes, Marty Mauser has an overriding, obsessive, feral dedication to the sport of ping pong, and he not only aims to be its greatest player, but also to help make it a major force in the American market, as it has already gained massive popularity in Asia. His only issue is that he isn’t really a legit ping pong player, at least not yet: he actually works as a shoe salesman at a shop owned by his uncle Murray (Larry “Ratso” Sloman), who, like many of Marty’s family members, would rather the young man make a respectable living doing anything else but ping pong. But the thing is, Marty Mauser isn’t just an arrogant dreamer—he is also very, very good at table tennis, and has even secured a spot to compete in the British Open and potentially snag the title of World No. 1. […]

Film by Ezekiel Yu
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A soldier on the beach from Christopher Nolan's Dunkirk (2017)

Christopher Nolan’s “Dunkirk” (2017): Style, Not Substance

Is there a better example this year of a film carried along by pure technique than Christopher Nolan’s Dunkirk?

Let’s get the goings-on out of the way, first. Luckily, there’s not that much to explain:

It is World War II. Allied forces have been effectively ousted from France by the Germans. The last of the French hold the Germans at bay, while the British await evacuation off the port town of Dunkirk in Northern France. Home is a Channel away, but as falling pamphlets early in the narrative indicate, the Germans surround them with Luftwaffe, U-boats, and infantry. The film is divided in three parts: Land (“The Mole”), Sea (“The Sea’) and Air (“The Air”), interconnected by event, but not necessarily by time. Typical of Christopher Nolan, the film’s conclusion contains a dovetailing of each section, tying the plot, and diegetic time, neatly together. We mainly follow a few officers, infantrymen, citizens on volunteer vessels, and RAF pilots, each in their respective section. Essentially, the officers fret over time and attack, the infantrymen die in hordes and attempt to escape, and the RAF pilots pick off attacking Luftwaffe until the citizen volunteers arrive, and the British ferry around 300,000 to safety across the Channel. The film ends with the surviving ground forces back in a celebratory Great Britain, one of the officers overseeing the evacuation of French troops, and one of the RAF aces captured by Nazis after his plane is downed.

And that’s the plot, really, save for that we follow select individuals along the way…and yet, do they matter all that much? […]