Immigrant artisan, insatiable curator, preservationist, fearless exhibitor who got the world to understand that raw and unruly “underground” cinema could be classic independent moviemaking —Jonas Mekas did it all, passing away January 23 at age 96. Senior film critic Kurt Brokaw salutes the life and work of the pioneer who built Anthology Film Archives in lower Manhattan, proudly calling himself a filmer and not a filmmaker.
Mike Sullivan introduces readers to the Coolidge Corner Theater’s new “Summer Seminar” series by revisiting memorable screenings from the 2018 season. As part of the educational series, seminar attendees enjoy a pre-screening presentation and participate in post-film analysis, led by experts in various aspects of film: technique, theory, style, trivia, etc. In this article, Mike describes the fascinating lectures and evocative screenings of Jaws (a Coolidge Corner Theater summer tradition!) and The Silence of the Lambs.
Evan Crean traveled to Montreal for the 21st annual Montreal International Documentary Festival (RIDM), which took place November 8 to 18, 2018. Of the 157 films from 47 countries it screened, he offers reviews of the seven he was able to squeeze into his weekend there.
In this final installment of Bette, Marilyn, and #MeToo, Kerry McElroy brings her timely and informative series to a close. But not before considering what today’s feminists and Hollywood insiders have to say about the relevance of studio-era actresses on this contemporary moment.
The 2018 American Film Market just wrapped up in Santa Monica, California. This year saw comparably stronger sales for small, independent films. Courtney Sheehan was at the AFM, and writes about the importance of relationships and risk-taking, key themes that emerged in the conference sessions on production and distribution.
As the world opened up to women’s liberation, civil rights, and new social movements, Hollywood of the 1960s doubled down on the exploitative practices that had made the industry so harmful to women. In this sixth series installment, Kerry McElroy argues that the sexual revolution stirring the larger culture, epitomized in the rise of Hugh Hefner, fanned the flames of an already misogynist, violent industry culture. As seen through the lives of Tippi Hedren and Marilyn Monroe, this article shows that the commodification of women only increased, even as the old studio system was dying. Few stars experienced the exception; read on about a compelling example: Elizabeth Taylor.
The 1950s was era of bigger stars, bigger budgets, and bigger bombshells. At same time, the studio system was weakening in the wake of television and a fearless and libelous emerging tabloid press. In this fifth series installment, Kerry McElroy examines the supreme pop cultural star of the twentieth century, Marilyn Monroe. Examined, in her own words and in new ways, McElroy’s Monroe is a kind of economic sociologist, a surprising forerunner of the #MeToo movement, and a forgotten proponent of social justice. Finally, McElroy considers another marquee court case, one in which star actresses fought back against the tabloids with bravery.
In the 1940s, two female intellectuals, coming from very different positions, began to theorize gender and economy in studio Hollywood. In this fourth series installment, Kerry McElroy delves into the changing and ironic state of affairs for actresses in the 1940s— unexpected autonomy and worsening exploitation. Food restriction, forced cosmetic surgery, suspensions, and poverty were largely the order of the tyrannical day. McElroy also looks at the last living Golden-Age star, Olivia de Havilland, and her landmark 1943 court case on contracts and suspensions.