Massive Attack’s sold-out show in Sydney in August was my first time seeing them — long overdue, as I’ve been a fan for over 30 years. As if I were being rewarded for waiting all that time, it was absolutely stunning, unlike anything I’ve seen before. Twenty-thousand of us at the unfortunately named Afterpay Arena … Continue reading Massive Attack’s unparalleled live fusion of music, cinema, and politics
I write about film all the time, but not all of it gets published here. When I see a film or a series, whether old or new, and decide I have something to say about it, there are, broadly speaking, two things that might happen. The first possibility is that I’m so obsessed with this … Continue reading A compilation of my short-form film reviews of 2023
Those of you who follow this blog may have noticed it’s been a bit quiet around here for the last few months. There’s a specific reason for this: almost all of my extra attention and energy has been consumed by following and protesting the war and genocide in Gaza. I haven’t really been able to … Continue reading Elia Suleiman’s Palestine trilogy: The tragic absurdity of occupation
This year I was once again tapped by Sydney Film Festival to write program notes for the upcoming 70th edition. Once again, along with the assortment of new films assigned to me, I was handed the enjoyable task of writing up a program of classic films from India. Last year it was the Satyajit Ray … Continue reading Sydney Film Festival preview: A deliriously good Amitabh Bachchan retro, plus other highlights
Earlier this year, I had the honor of writing the program notes for Sydney Film Festival’s Satyajit Ray retrospective. My task was to watch and write up 10 classic Ray films selected by beloved Australian critic David Stratton for his annual retro program at the festival (and I got to talk to Stratton on the … Continue reading The exquisite films of Satyajit Ray, cinema’s great humanist
