The Observer is a student-run, daily print & online newspaper serving Notre Dame, Saint Mary's & Holy Cross. Learn about us.
-90 posts tagged "Film"
Aidan O'Malley | Tuesday, November 3, 2020
I love Sofia Coppola. I love all of her movies, even the ones that people hate. I love the texture of her films — their intimacy, their insight. I love her impressionist color palette and her eclectic needle drops. I love how she blurs comedy and drama into a kind of lived-in melancholy. She doesn’t
Letter to the Editor | Monday, November 2, 2020
In a few weeks, students will begin registering for spring courses. For me, this has always been an exciting time — I go on class search, look for interesting classes, check their reviews and session times and mix and match until I come up with the perfect schedule. This semester, Notre Dame’s department of Film,
Aidan O'Malley | Tuesday, October 27, 2020
Back in 2014, director David Fincher — in a rare public appearance — spoke at San Diego Comic-Con at a panel celebrating the 15th anniversary of his cult film turned classic, “Fight Club.” While there, the two-time Oscar nominee shared a story. ”My daughter had a friend named Max,” he said. “She told me
Nick Brigati | Friday, October 16, 2020
On May 25, 2020, I, like so many other Americans, witnessed the disturbing video of George Floyd dying after a white police officer knelt on his neck for over eight minutes — an image that has unfortunately become all too familiar. Seeing the video immediately reminded me of Spike Lee’s magnum opus, “Do the Right
Aidan O'Malley | Wednesday, October 14, 2020
Not to be confused with Steve Carell — that’s a different 40-year-old — Radha Blank is an aspiring playwright in New York. Keyword: aspiring. Despite having won a “30 Under 30” award, the last decade of her life has been a rollercoaster ride with a lot more drops than climbs. These days, she’s teaching theatre
Aidan O'Malley | Wednesday, October 7, 2020
Dick Johnson is dead. Well, sort of. Not really. The 86-year-old psychologist is still kicking but with a little less verve than usual. He’s scheduling different clients at the same time, asking the same questions only minutes apart and just the other day, he drove through a construction site on four flat tires. Like his
Aidan O'Malley | Tuesday, September 22, 2020
“The Devil All the Time” is bad. But boy, is it the best kind of bad! Worse than a bad movie, in my opinion, is a forgettable one. You know the kind I’m talking about — those movies that exit your brain the second the credits have rolled, the kind you see on cable a
Elizabeth Gregory | Friday, September 11, 2020
A stunning remaster of Claire Denis’ “Beau Travail” was released to streaming services Sep. 4. On Tuesday, this incredible Blu-ray version will join the Criterion Collection. The 1999 triumph is an overdue addition to Criterion’s canon-setting cinematic collection. Amidst charges of tone deafness and curation driven by white men, the choice of “Beau Travail” for
Aidan O'Malley | Friday, September 11, 2020
Disney live action remakes are a special kind of cinematic purgatory. Few of them are truly irredeemable; you can always count on lavish production design, ornate costumes and some solid VFX. But in service of what? “Cinderella,” “Beauty and the Beast,” “Aladdin” — these movies are soulless. I’m not sure a studio has ever been
Aidan O'Malley | Tuesday, September 8, 2020
How do you solve a problem like Charlie Kaufman? Perhaps “problem” is the wrong word. Puzzle? Riddle? Rabbit hole? The Oscar-winning screenwriter of “Being John Malkovich” and “Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind” — more recently the director of “Synecdoche, New York” and “Anomalisa” — is one of my favorite filmmakers, but he doesn’t make