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Recent Posts
- Psaltery & Lyre’s New Site
- 123 Psaltery & Lyre: “Agricola Dreams of Flying” by J. Rose Lara
- 122 Psaltery & Lyre: “Communion: a love poem (a villanelle)” by Rachel Bollinger
- Book Review: Philip Metres’s Sand Opera
- 121 Psaltery & Lyre: Rachael Matthews, “Horsehead Nebula”
- Book Review: Monica Ong’s Silent Anatomies
- 120 Psaltery & Lyre: Rachael Matthews, “Return, pt. III” and “Gaia”
- Book Review: Claudia Rankine’s Don’t Let Me Be Lonely
- Book Review: Matthea Harvey, If the Tabloids Are True What Are You?
- Book Review: LoterÃa Cards and Fortune Poems: A Book of Lives
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Rogue Cinema Archive
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Favorites: Farenheit 451
Posted on October 7, 2011 | 3 CommentsExistentialism, beauty, truth, censorship — in Andy’s hands, Rogue Cinema was never about spending a few entertaining hours in the dark, it was about exploring life’s big questions through film. Rogue Cinema is going to go through some changes in the future, moving from a […] -
The Girl Who Leapt Through Time
Posted on September 30, 2011 | 9 Comments[Guest Post from Starfoxy, as part of the Doves & Serpents and The Exponent Blog Swap. Starfoxy blogs at The Exponent, and has terrible taste in movies.] After I signed up to take on the Rogue Cinema spot for our D&S/Exponent blog swap I found […] -
The Unbearable Lightness of Being
Posted on August 19, 2011 | 9 CommentsI am here one day, and on the next, I am gone. Yet I am part of a community, a society, and a species, that will continue after I am dead. I live in the immeasurable debt and preparation of those who have gone before, […] -
The Rabbit Hole
Posted on August 12, 2011 | 6 CommentsToday’s guest post was written by Amanda Mixon, a graduate student of English at Texas State University in San Marcos, Texas. This is where John Cameron Mitchell’s (director) Rabbit Hole takes us: the mourning process; in media res. An adaptation of David Lindsay-Abaire’s play of […] -
The Tree of Life
Posted on August 5, 2011 | 6 CommentsThe Tree of Life begins with a quotation from The Book of Job: “Where were you when I laid the foundations of the earth . . . What supports its foundations, and who laid its cornerstone as the morning stars sang together and all the […] -
Mormon Film Pioneers
Posted on July 29, 2011 | 20 CommentsI believe we have stories to tell and if we don't do it, it will be done for us. -
Eat, Bray, Shove: Two Men’s Mimicry, Mockery and Mastication Across Northern England
Posted on July 22, 2011 | 6 CommentsWhat would you get if the producers of “Curb Your Enthusiasm” combined “My Dinner with Andre ” and “Easy Rider” with some salacious food porn thrown in? Why, you’d have British director Michael Winterbottom’s latest Steve Coogan and Rob Brydon semi-improvised vehicle, “The Trip,” that’s […] -
Considering James Bond in a Post-Mad Men World
Posted on July 9, 2011 | 2 CommentsYou, the audience, look through the barrel of an assassin’s rifle at a circular white space as a smartly dressed gentleman strides into view and then he suddenly whirls toward you, his now unconcealed pistol firing. A crimson wash of blood slowly coats the […] -
Winter’s Bone
Posted on July 1, 2011 | 7 CommentsAmong its confluence of forces and traditions, it is impossible to ignore that the mythological potential of America is enabled, at least in part, by its sheer size. As the borders of the United States pushed relentlessly West, spaces opened up in the endless flats […] -
Men On Film
Posted on June 24, 2011 | 15 CommentsAs part of this week’s discussion on “Mature Masculinity,” I thought I’d take a closer look at films and television shows that depict men grappling with questions of identity and what it means to be a man in the modern world. As we’ve discussed this […] -
I Love the Smell of K-Y Warming Jelly ® in the Morning, or, Marital Apocalypse Delayed
Posted on June 10, 2011 | 8 CommentsAlthough best known for “The Seventh Seal” and other serious “art house” films, I suggest Ingmar Bergman’s best work is his delightful “Smiles of a Summer Night.” Whether you watch it as a momentary diversion from a sweltering evening this summer or view it as […] -
Gosford Park
Posted on June 4, 2011 | 5 CommentsAfter recently bingeing on the award-winning and critically acclaimed BBC mini-series Downton Abbey, the drama-comedy Gosford Park caught my eye on my Netflix suggestions menu. It turns out they share the same writer, Julian Fellowes. Directed by Robert Altman, Gosford Park was nominated […] -
Papa, Watch me Fly!
Posted on May 27, 2011 | 5 CommentsOn Sunday nights, we gather all the piles of clean laundry into the living room and fold it while watching a movie. The kids were not amused by my choice last Sunday: “Yentl” (now stream-able on Netflix!). They don’t like to watch “old” movies and […] -
Tina Fey’s Arithmetic Mean Girl
Posted on May 22, 2011 | 6 CommentsDoes anyone remember the ABC After School Specials that ran from 1972–1997? I do. In fact I remember once fantasizing to myself about them: “If only the Saturday Night Live people wrote, acted in and produced these shows they might almost be . . . […] -
30something
Posted on May 20, 2011 | 11 CommentsNo week-long love fest of Tina Fey is complete without a discussion (however incomplete) of her hit-ish show, 30 Rock. I received the first season DVD boxset for Christmas a few years ago. Already a raging fan, I begged my family to watch with me. […] -
Diary of a Wimpy Mom
Posted on May 13, 2011 | 21 CommentsA promise is a promise, or so my kids said, even if I really didn’t want to take them to see “Diary of a Wimpy Kid 2: Rodrick Rules” the week it opened in theaters. My kids have been reading the Wimpy Kid graphic novels […] -
The Saviors of Soul Revisited
Posted on May 6, 2011 | 10 CommentsIn 1997, some twenty years after his notoriously iconoclastic conversion to Christianity, when asked what he then believed, Bob Dylan replied: I find the religiosity and philosophy in the music . . .. I believe the songs. A difficult doctrine to understand? He that […] -
A Spoonful of Sugar
Posted on April 22, 2011 | 7 CommentsOr how the ‘Making of Mary Poppins’ documentary included on the 25th Anniversary DVD restored my hope and sweetened my attitude toward life in general. A few years ago, my daughter received a Mary Poppins Barbie doll for Christmas. It came dressed in that flowing […] -
Before Sunset
Posted on April 15, 2011 | 9 CommentsFor Jesse and Céline these questions are embodied in a single night and in each other. But the question of how we balance our passion, our need to continue living fully with the realities of daily living can come to us in many guises. -
Before Sunrise
Posted on April 8, 2011 | 24 CommentsAn American man meets a French woman on a train in Europe. They connect and get off together in Vienna where they spend the night walking around the city and talking, making love hours before each is scheduled to depart for home. With that framework, […] -
Oklahoma!
Posted on April 1, 2011 | 8 CommentsThe first part of a two-post analysis of the dream of the American West, through a particularly successful 1955 movie adaptation of the Broadway hit. Six years ago, my paternal grandfather, Dennis, died of Motor Neurone (Lou Gehrig's) disease. -
Magnolia
Posted on March 22, 2011 | 2 CommentsPaul Thomas Anderson’s Magnolia (1999) shows us (to use David Lynch’s words:) people ‘in trouble’. Like Altman’s Short Cuts, the film revolves around the strangely interconnected lives of a number of families in the city, each trying to navigate crises that seem to be veering […] -
Kevin Smith: ‘Dogma’
Posted on March 18, 2011 | 4 CommentsWhen Dogma (1999) was first released, it was met with all the usual protestors: the Harry-Potter-book-burners, who hadn’t bothered to see the film. From a copy of the script, the Catholic League were left with no doubt that this was a ‘blasphemous’ film: casting Alanis […] -
The Big Lebowski
Posted on March 11, 2011 | 11 Comments‘Sometimes there’s a man. . . and he’s the man for his time and place.’ The Big Lebowski (1998) is a film about a man who ‘nobody calls. . . Lebowski.’ He is ‘The Dude’ (Jeff Bridges): and his journey to secure a replacement rug […] -
Tarkio Balloon
Posted on March 5, 2011 | 4 CommentsA special guest post today featuring the short documentary ‘Tarkio Balloon. The film is the first in ‘The Lost and Found Series,‘ a series of five documentary films by a collective of filmmakers “exploring what it means to lose something and what we can potentially […] -
The Fountain
Posted on March 4, 2011 | 15 CommentsHow much recompense can mythology -- or even the scientific comforts of persistence of the body -- provide in the face of human yearning? -
American Beauty
Posted on February 25, 2011 | 13 CommentsRecently ‘Rogue Cinema’ took a foray into the dark world of David Lynch’s films, to explore his disturbing presentations of the decay of the body and inherited contortions of the mind. For all of you who joined me on that journey: thanks. It was a […] -
Moon
Posted on February 18, 2011 | 12 CommentsToday’s post on ‘Rogue Cinema’ is a collaboration between Matt and Andy. “WHERE ARE WE NOW?” If you’ve seen 2001: A Space Odyssey you’ll find many similarities between the mood, the sets, the characters, the landscapes and even the plot devices found in Moon; so […] -
Black Swan
Posted on February 11, 2011 | 7 CommentsToday’s post is from a guest that we’ll call ‘White Cygnet’. I didn’t expect Black Swan to strike at my Mormon roots. I found the film both disturbing and moving (once I could calm down from its “thriller” effect), but surprisingly the part that spoke […] -
David Lynch: ‘Inland Empire’
Posted on February 4, 2011 | No Comments‘What time is it?’ ‘It’s after midnight.’ In one of the key, echoed scenes of Inland Empire (2006), Laura Dern’s character ascends a dark staircase to a strange office, where a man with glasses listens to her tell her story: of a dark time recalled […] -
David Lynch: ‘Eraserhead’
Posted on January 28, 2011 | 4 CommentsThe chicken on the table isn't dead. The baby is perhaps a cow fetus. And Henry has to raise it - as far as he possibly can -- and to the limits of his sanity. You recognise the cries: they are the same as a human child. -
David Lynch: ‘Lost Highway’
Posted on January 21, 2011 | 6 CommentsIf we are no longer what society tells us: then who are we? And how can we be trusted? -
The Spirit of the Beehive
Posted on January 14, 2011 | 6 CommentsWho could ever draw the lines that would separate the material world and the worlds of the imagination? For children, these worlds flow into each other very easily: a merging that is the subject of the Spanish-language film El espÃritu de la colmena (1973). Victor […] -
The Conformist
Posted on January 7, 2011 | 9 CommentsNobody would want to be called a ‘Fascist’. Unless, of course, you’re living in 1930’s Italy: the world of Bernardo Bertolucci’s The Conformist (1970). The film follows a man: an aspiring Fascist operative, Marcello, on his way to assassinate his former professor, a political exile […] -
Robert Altman: ‘Short Cuts’
Posted on December 31, 2010 | 5 CommentsIf this film is a set of 'short cuts', then we might ask: 'where to?', and 'what to avoid?' -
Woody Allen: ‘Crimes and Misdemeanors’
Posted on December 17, 2010 | 6 CommentsIt would be difficult to overestimate how important the movies of Woody Allen have been in my life. That makes it all sound a bit serious. . . the importance and pleasure of watching these films have been in equal measure. Thank heaven he’s made […] -
Fahrenheit 451
Posted on December 10, 2010 | 21 CommentsTruffaut’s famous adaptation of the Ray Bradbury novel Fahrenheit 451 begins with a strange and stern voice-over against coloured close-ups of television aerials, in the place of credits. This innovative opening introduces us directly to the world of the film, where the futuristic regime has […] -
The Visitor
Posted on December 3, 2010 | 6 CommentsI’m not a movie critic, but I do see lots of movies. I’m not picky. I’ll see a “chick flick” that’s full of clichés and predictable plots. I don’t need movies to be realistic. That always seems like such an absurd criticism: “Oh, that movie […] -
A Christmas Tale
Posted on November 26, 2010 | 23 CommentsSome films leave you with a feeling that you have experienced something solid and illuminating that will stay with you. A Christmas Tale (released in 2008), with its dream cast, rich characters and blend of humor and big ideas, is such a film for me. Every time I watch it, I like it more and I'm even more amazed by the strange alchemy Desplechin uses to create his moving, joyful, but unsentimental family drama. -
Revolutionary Road
Posted on November 19, 2010 | 13 CommentsWhat does it mean to be a woman? -
Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind
Posted on November 12, 2010 | 15 CommentsWe all occasionally construct protective layers around our emotions, convinced that forgetting will negate the trouble of pain, the complications of connecting. But is that how we want to live? -
The Exorcist
Posted on November 5, 2010 | 10 CommentsFriedkin's film is trying to tell us this: decay, ugliness, suffering and evil exist. And they're not just someone else's problem. -
Quentin Tarantino: ‘Pulp Fiction’
Posted on October 29, 2010 | 8 CommentsTarantino's masterpiece 'Pulp Fiction' explores the space between natural phenomena and those inexplicable events that escape reasoned justification. -
Arranged
Posted on October 22, 2010 | 19 CommentsStefan Schaefer’s Arranged (2007) is a beautiful presentation of the ordinary life of women in patriarchal religions, and gently portrays the way that they find choice in their religious adherence. Based on the real-life story of Yuta Silverman, Rochel Meshenberg (Zoe Lister-Jones) portrays a young […] -
Werner Herzog: ‘Grizzly Man’
Posted on October 15, 2010 | 20 CommentsHerzog's journey into the 100 hours of film footage taken by the 'Grizzly Man' Timothy Treadwell offers us an expedition into our own relationship with silence, animal majesty and murder. -
Richard Linklater: ‘Waking Life’
Posted on October 8, 2010 | 11 CommentsRichard Linklater’s Waking Life (2001) is, even for such an unusual director, an unusual film. From the very beginning, the bizarre ‘Rotoscope’ animation technique, (also used in A Scanner Darkly, 2006) jars the viewer, challenging us to take on the tension between the cartoon fabric […] -
Rogue Cinema
Posted on October 4, 2010 | 11 CommentsFridays on 'Doves and Serpents' are film nights. That means you can get your popcorn, or equivalent snackfood, and follow along with a set of great directors and films that have made an impression on the writers here. Please watch the films along with us, and share the personal experiences you have with them, if you like.