Film
99 HOMES
What Makes Someone Become
Who He Hates?
Alert: Possible Spoilers How can someone do exactly to other people what’s been done to him? That’s the big psychological question in Ramin Bahrani’s new film, 99 Homes. How can Dennis Nash (Andrew Garfield) become the right-hand man to the very real estate developer (Michael Shannon) who callously uses the housing market collapse to repossess and…
Read More
MARK WEBBER’S SECRET MOVIE
Shhhh … It’s About His Mother
A good mother can make a bad situation better. I just read Valentina Valentini’s piece in Indie Wire, Mark Webber Wants Your Money But He Can’t Tell You Why, about actor/director Mark Webber’s Kick Starter Campaign. He’s raising money for a movie he’s making about his mother. It’s a secret, but he did give his…
Read More
THE END OF THE TOUR
A Self-Loathing Voice & Depression
The End of the Tour shows that a self-loathing voice can’t be allowed to take center stage. It makes you believe other people are thinking terrible thoughts about you too. You keep your distance. It’s a lonely place to be. David Foster Wallace’s short story, The Depressed Person, shows he knew that struggle well. So…
Read More
THE END OF THE TOUR
Jason Segel Gets Inside
Foster Wallace’s Quiet Torment
Depression is outwardly a quiet torment. Inside it’s an almost constant implosion of self-deprecating self-doubt. That’s what we witness in director James Ponsoldt’s The End of the Tour – wrapped around David Foster Wallace like his famous bandana. Woven all-too-frequently into the substance of his conversation with David Lipsky: the ravages of a cruelly oppressive…
Read More
AMY
How A Psychoanalyst Looks At
Her “Freudian Fate” & Bulimia
Asif Kapadia’s deeply truthful, Amy, makes something very clear. Although Amy Winehouse predicted fame would “drive her mad,” it was more her psychological troubles that set her on a fatal downward spiral. The lyrics to What Is It About Men – “my Freudian fate. History repeats itself. It fails to die,” only touch the surface…
Read More
AMY
Finding The Real Amy Winehouse
Amy Winehouse tragically became the brunt of cruel jokes by comics the likes of Jay Leno. Every symptom of her psychological suffering was up for grabs: her bulimia, drug addiction, and her state of mind: “She’s like a mad person.” It’s not that simple. Amy, the sensitive, sad, and revealing documentary by Asif Kapadia, sets…
Read More