Jonathan Rosenbaum's Blog: jonathanrosenbaum.com, page 56

THE BRAIN [1983 article]

Published in Omni circa 1982. I owe this assignment and all my others at this magazine to the late Kathleen Stein, my editor there — a former classmate at Bard College and flatmate in New York during one summer. — J.R.


The Arts: TV

Jonathan Rosenbaum



How far can the human braln go in delvlng into its own [...]

Cheap Thriller [13 (TZAMETI)]

From the Chicago Reader (September 8, 2006). — J.R.


13 (Tzameti)
* (Has redeeming facet)
Directed and written by Gela Babluani
With Georges Babluani, Olga Legrand, Philippe Passon, Aurelien Recoing, Vania Vilers, and Nicolas Pignon

An English-language remake of this French thriller is already in development. But the film recycles so much I’d be surprised if it doesn’t get recycled [...]

FOX AND HIS FRIENDS (1976 review)

From Monthly Film Bulletin, January 1976, Vol. 43, No. 504. — J.R.



Faustrecht der Freiheit (Fox)

West Germany, 1975 Director: Rainer Werner Fassbinder




Ce r t–X. dist–Cinegate. p.c–Tango-Film. p–Rainer Werner Fassbinder.
p. manager–Christian Hohoff. asst. d–Irm Hermann. sc—Rainer Werner
Fassbinder, Christian Hohoff. ph–Mictrael Ballhaus. col–Eastman Colour.
ed–Thea Eymèsz. a.d–Kurt Raab. m–Peer Raben. songs–”One Night”
by Pearl King, Dave Bartholomew, [...]

True Romances [HAV PLENTY & MR. JEALOUSY]

From the Chicago Reader (June 19, 1998). — J.R.
Hav Plenty
Rating *** A must see
Directed and written by Christopher Scott Cherot
With Chenoa Maxwell, Cherot, Tammi Catherine Jones, Robinne Lee, and Reginald James.
Mr. Jealousy
Rating *** A must see
Directed and written by Noah Baumbach
With Eric Stoltz, Annabella Sciorra, Chris Eigeman, Carlos Jacott, Marianne Jean-Baptiste, Brian Kerwin, Peter Bogdanovich, [...]

Recommended Reading: Capricci 2012 & Leo Robson on Wes Anderson

1. Film buffs who read French should be alerted to Capricci 2012, subtitled Actualités Critiques –- the second issue of an annual book-size magazine, a little over 200 pages in length, tied in various ways to some of the recent publishing activities of Capricci, many of which I’ve blogged about in this site in the [...]

And Now the News [THE 4TH ANIMATION CELEBRATION]

From the Chicago Reader (May 22, 1992). — J.R.

THE 4TH ANIMATION CELEBRATION: THE MOVIE
*** (A must-see)
Finding out what’s happening in the world these days is no easy matter. Turn to a newspaper and we may learn what American business wants to know — or thinks it wants to know — but not much else; [...]

Ulrike Ottinger [1983]

A chapter from Film: The Front Line 1983. — J.R.


Born in Konstanz, Germany, 1942.
What do I know about Ulrike Ottinger? Not much, but enough to make me want to know more.  Admittedly, I’ve seen only her last two features. And on the basis of a single viewing about a year ago, Freak Orlando [...]

How to Read the Revolution [BLUSH]

From the Chicago Reader (October 4, 1996); also reprinted in my collection Essential Cinema. — J.R.


Blush
Rating **** Masterpiece
Directed by Li Shaohong
Written by Ni Zhen and Li
With Wang Ji, Wang Zhiwen, He Saifei, Zgang Liwei, Wang Rouli, Song Xiuling, Xing Yangchun, Zhou Jianying, and Cao Lei.






The use of multiple perspectives in Chinese painting was not for [...]

Index of long reviews from the Chicago Reader, by film (or book) title or subject

Note: items followed by “(i)” have been reformatted and are also illustrated. (There are a few long reviews that appear on this site twice, once with illustrations and once without, although I’ve started to delete the non-illustrated duplications whenever I spot them.) For some strange reason, one of my long reviews, of both Star Wars: [...]

The Lynch-Pin Fallacy

From Tikkun, November/December 1990, Vol. 5, No. 6. This was my second and (to date) final contribution to this magazine. As I recall, I wasn’t too happy with the way I was edited on this one (although the published version — which they called “Out to Lynch,” and is only slightly altered here — is [...]