The Magic Lantern

I first saw Frank Capra’s Meet John Doe (1941) at least fifteen years ago and had not revisited it, though it left me with very strong impressions. It was those impressions that made it a clear choice for the new year and our new political landscape. As for the film…

It’s that time of year again! We bring you our year-in-review, but with a twist, in Ants In Your Pants of 2016. Our lists were culled from the tremendous number of quality films we saw this year, and we focused on those we saw for the first time which made…

If ever there was an object lesson in not confusing the art with the artist, Daryl Duke’s Payday (1973) is just that lesson. Rip Torn stars as second-rate country singer Maury Dann and we spend 36 hours with him in which he leaves nothing but scorched earth in his wake.…

We have a special episode for you guys this time! We are joined by our special guest Lars Nilsen, lead programmer at the Austin Film Society, to discuss his selection for the show, Smile Jenny, You’re Dead (1974). Directed by Jerry Thorpe, the choice is a bit of a departure…

“A little movie called Once gave me enough inspiration to last the rest of the year” – Steven Spielberg (USA Today) Me too, Steven! Once (Carney, 2007) came along just when I needed it most (to paraphrase Zelda Fitzgerald). Sometimes it is the quietest, most modest and unassuming work that…

In this episode, The Magic Jack O’Lantern 2016, we bring you our list of viewing tricks and treats to celebrate the season. We watched one Halloween inspired title every day in October and now pass the list and our impressions on to you in hopes that you might find some…

I was eight years old when I saw the first television commercial for John Carpenter’s Halloween (1978) and it was galvanizing. At that age, my horror cinema experience centered mainly around the cadre of Universal monsters, and I loved them, but this was a shot across my bow that I…

I resisted the pull of Black Christmas (Clark, 1974) for a very long time. Too long. I thought it was going to be too scary (it is), or too violent (it’s not), or too gory (not really). When I finally watched it several years ago, I was delighted that it…

Kent Mackenzie’s The Exiles (1961) was one of the first films to portray Native Americans as actual flesh and blood human beings with dreams, hopes, and flaws. For decades, Hollywood had perpetuated an array of stereotypes–the stoic noble savage, the princess and the squaw, and the bloodthirsty warrior among them–but…

Top Hat (Sandrich, 1935), and by extension Fred Astaire and Ginger Rogers, breezed into my life and introduced me to a dreamy world of class, romance, and farce wrapped in a froth of Art Deco detail and the most beautiful dancing I’d yet seen. Even though I’ve enjoyed Astaire’s pairings…

The first time I saw Jonathan auf der Heide’s Van Diemen’s Land (2009), it knocked me back in my seat. My head was already swirling that day seven years ago from everything else that Fantastic Fest had jammed into it. When you are trying to take in all that one…

Ding dong! In 1996, a very special gift arrived for this theatre nerd. Waiting for Guffman (Guest, 1996) ticked many of my boxes: it was hilarious, well-acted, a musical, outrageously quotable, took place in a familiar milieu, and begged for repeated viewings. I was the loudest, most obnoxious moviegoer that…

Very high stakes, an intelligent but troubled preteen, a plucky sidekick, an imaginary super spy friend, and Atari–put them all together and you’ve got Richard Franklin’s Cloak & Dagger (1984). As a nine year-old, I was thrilled by the twisting plot, effective performances and very real danger at the core…

I first saw Lucrecia Martel’s debut feature, La Ciénaga (2001), in late 2008 and I have been thinking about it ever since. I was so thoroughly impressed with the clarity and completeness of her vision and her obvious self-possession that the images and, crucially, the sounds are never that far…

You may think you know all there is to know about Alfred Hitchcock’s Psycho (1960). Watch it again. Right now. Joseph Stefano (from Robert Bloch’s novel) adapted a corker of a suspense tale centered around a deeply troubling, even Gothic, family history, and a false protagonist set to remedy a…