Essays

Passing Through/Torn Formations and the Performative Documentary

Analysis of Canadian filmmaker Phil Hoffman's poetic treatment of autobiography and aesthetics in Passing Through/Torn Formations.

Birth of a Nation: Viewed Today

An ideological analysis of the form-content bias in Birth of a Nation (1915).

Rip in the Curtain: Gus Van Sant’s Psycho

With Gus Van Sant currently on the hard road back to relevance - the gnomic, impressive achievement that was Gerry (2002) having been so closely followed by his Cannes triumph with Elephant (2003) - the time may be ripe to revisit one of his most eccentric and reviled (and very nearly forgotten) projects, his 1998 near-shot-for-shot remake of Alfred Hitchcock’s Psycho.

Psycho Redux

Gus Van Sant's re-appropriation of Hitchcock's classic is given another (close) look.

Barbarian Invasions

In this essay Garrett asks of himself: “What is a minor work of art, and what a major one? How do the perceptions about the social value of characters in film translate into one’s estimation of a film’s importance?” These are questions that occur when Garrett views two films focusing on Native Americans, Randy Redroad’s Haircuts Hurt and Norma Bailey’s Cowboys and Indians: The J.J. Harper Story, and then sees Denys Arcand’s The Barbarian Invasions.

If One Person is Strong, Must the Other Be Weak?

Writer Daniel Garrett collectively analyzes a group of films released in Autumn 2003 in which we can see a “broadening of male sensibility”.

The Sixth Sense: Humanizing Horror

A thematic-based analysis of Shyamalan's narrative structure, with an emphasis on temporality.

Visual Style in M. Night Shyamalan’s “Fantastic” Trilogy : The Long Take

Donato Totaro looks at Shyamalan's visual style in his extensive two-part analysis of Shyamalan's (The Sixth Sense, Unbreakable, Signs).

Visual Style in M. Night Shyamalan’s “Fantastic” Trilogy : Mise en Scène

Donato Totaro looks at Shyamalan's visual style in his extensive two-part analysis of Shyamalan's 'trilogy' (The Sixth Sense, Unbreakable, Signs).

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The Work of Cinema in the Age of Digital (Re)production

Najmeh Khalili returns with a theoretical speculation on new digital media which looks for answers by looking into the cinematic past.

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Every Day is a New Day: Art, Biography, Criticism, and the Changing Fortunes of Diana Ross

Garrett paints a loving portrait of Diana Ross as an American artist who has been both essential and inspirational for the better part of five decades.

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