Cassandra Kipp A Girl Walks Home Alone at Night, but really, she doesn’t. An enigmatic vampire girl in Bad City, Iran, wanders the city, taking people to her home and entering others’. At the same time, Arash, a young man … Continue reading Where Else Will a Girl Walk?
Cassandra Kipp A Frenchman, Michel, is on the run from the law in 1960s Paris after shooting a police officer. Despite his plan to flee to Rome, he’s trapped in two ways: trying to cash in on debts he’s owed, … Continue reading It was the Best of Times, it was the Worst of Times
Cassandra Kipp A film adaptation of a theater production of one story of the fight against apartheid in South Africa, Darrell Roodt’s Sarafina! uses the musical genre to convey the pain and hope of rebellion while providing aspects a stage … Continue reading Freedom is Coming, But by What Path?
Cassandra Kipp Maori bush-livers Hector and Bella foster a delinquent, Ricky, who becomes attached to Bella and the farm lifestyle in Taika Waititi’s 2016 Hunt for the Wilderpeople. Under threat of returning to the foster system, Ricky flees to the … Continue reading In the Bella of the Beast
Cassandra Kipp Neil Burger’s The Illusionist presents a bent reality that may or may not be magical. The poor, developing magician Eduard, later Eisenheim, and duchess Sophie are split apart in their youth. Eisenheim rises to fame, finally seeing Sophie … Continue reading Just a Prank, Lads. Let’s All Have a Hearty Chuckle.
Cassandra Kipp Christopher Nolan’s 2000 film Memento explores the filmic form and narrative usage, as well as film noir’s potential in the modern cinematic world. Leonard Shelby, a man incapable of forming short term memories, seeks the surviving man of … Continue reading Classic Slumber Party Game Truth or Noir?
Cassandra Kipp Destin Daniel Cretton’s Just Mercy dramatically reenacts the first case undertaken by real figure Bryan Stevenson. Stevenson is a black Harvard-graduate lawyer who moves to Alabama to achieve justice for death row inmates. His new Equal Justice Initiative … Continue reading Opening the Wound Doesn’t Keep It From Being Stitched Shut Again
By Cassandra Kipp What is a perfect woman? What is a perfect mother? Why does society care, and does this expectation ruin people? Lynne Ramsey’s film adaptation of We Need to Talk About Kevin explores these questions and finishes the … Continue reading We Need to Talk About Eva
Cassandra Kipp Gabriela Cowperthwaite’s Megan Leavey follows a directionless young woman who joins the U.S. Marines. Her delinquent nature changes with the desire to train Rex, a difficult military dog. Leavey and Rex train successfully and land in Iraq, where … Continue reading Finding a Purpose
Cassandra Kipp Douglas Sirk’s A Scandal in Paris follows historical figure Eugene Vidocq’s path from petty criminal to criminal mastermind to virtuous chief of Parisian police. Beginning in prison, he and his sidekick Emile escape. Vidocq meets a performer named … Continue reading Pomp and Sirkumstance
Film Modes & Genres 