The third film in my analysis of the Films of Ana Lily Amirpour is the minimalist neon-soaked psychedelic Sci-Fi film, Mona Lisa and the Red Moon. The final film in the unofficial “Apocalyptic Anomie” Trilogy, Amirpour displays her mastery of subversion; circumventing many of the usual tropes at every turn. From shot composition and storytelling, to gender role expectations of characters and the micro level consequences of Disaster Capitalism in post Katrina New Orleans, the film subtlety nods to genre conventions and a maddening socio-political backdrop, while not directly engaging i ..read more

              The second film in my analysis of the films of Ana lily Amirpour, is the desert denizen dystopia, The Bad Batch; the next film in what I have dubbed Amirpour’s “Apocalyptic Anomie” trilogy. For this sophomore outing, Amirpour trades Tehran for Texas, and vampires for cannibals in this amalgamated homage to the work of George Miller and John Carpenter. Through Amirpour’s deft hand and critical eye, she weaves a story of brutal survival in a wasteland manufactured by a draconian criminal justice system, while intimating ..read more

                  The first film in my analysis of The Films of Ana Lily Amirpour is the goth vampiric German expressionist spaghetti western A Girl Walks Home Alone at Night. This debut film is an artistic accomplishment in the amalgamation of genre, tone, and theme. The composition of this film, its pace, and subversive subject matter was to become an eventual calling card for future films with Amirpour at the helm. This freshman film in what I like to call Amirpour’s “Apocalyptic Anomie” Trilogy (Girl, B ..read more

              The twelfth film in my continuing analysis of The Films of Hayao Miyazaki is the melancholic meditative masterpiece, The Boy and the Heron. A blistering elevation of the artform, Miyazaki’s latest visual tapestry is a generationally expansive collaboration that is contemplative of death, (social and self) destruction and the human dynasty. While Miyazaki retreads some narratively foundational elements found in his other semi-autobiographical work, he comes at the material from the opposite direction, making the prepub ..read more

  INTRODUCTION  Ana lily Amirpour is an eclectic marvel. Her films are a beautifully amalgamated blend of genres, styles, and aesthetics. As a director, Amirpour is consistently unconventional. Her filmography views like a tasting menu of the filmmaking process: traditional television, music videos, an iphone excavation turned soon-to-be published scrap book, and of course movies.  Amirpour embodies what one interviewer called “gnostic”: esoteric knowledge (typically) of the mystical variety. Amirpour embraces “the other” and pushes against the structures and systems in which ..read more

The 12th film in my continuing analysis of The Films of Christopher Nolan, is the WWII biopic Oppenheimer. Still reeling from his inability to “save cinema” with the release of his previous venture, Tenet, Nolan is given another bite at the apple from Universal Pictures, after he burned the Warner bros bridge because of HBOMAX (Now just Max *eye roll).  Rather than have any kind of clear or compelling understanding of history, the audience for Oppenheimer is treated to a well shot, overly edited piece of Pro War disjointed propaganda that has nothing to say about morality and genocide ..read more

  In the organization of traditional gender stereotypes, masculinity is framed as the rational (emotionally) repressive and relationally reductive identity that thrives on aggression as well as the alienation and abuse of women. Women, thereby become the fulcrum and rubric by which men ocellate toward and are critiqued; to achieve and maintain their traditional forms of (fragile) masculinity. Conversely, in this same organization, femininity revels in the relational, having women define their identity through the emotional bonds they cultivate with their children or the variety of mal ..read more

  This final essay in my series on the films of Karyn Kusama will be looking at the director’s ‘small screen’ work; focusing on the gendering and sexist misogyny of being a non-male director in Hollywood using the lens of their recently produced and directed critical darling, Yellowjackets. Through this focus, this paper will address the historical consequences of identifying as a female director, many of them languishing in either director jail, regulated to television or both; and in the analysis of the narrative of Yellowjackets, tackle the subversion of and disintegration of societa ..read more

  The fifth film in my continued analysis of the films of Karyn Kusama is the neo-noir crime thriller Destroyer. Coming off the critical success of The Invitation, Kusama changed directions again to tackle another film category.  This, like other films in Kusama’s filmography, is both a genre picture and plays with genre: confirming and subverting tropes, themes, and audience expectations. This paper is an examination of the crime thriller through the lens of 2018’s Destroyer and the implications that these films have on the perceptions of the police by the public, and the expecta ..read more

              For many people in the United States, the beginning of the year is met with wonder and whimsy about the (seemingly) endless possibilities of the year to come. They make plans, look forward to events, and cultivate a purposeful motivation to get through another rotation around the sun. As someone who studies systems, I unfortunately see every coming new year as the inevitable and consistent bureaucratic reset button; that we must do everything all over again, just like last year, with the possibility of being slightly e ..read more