Earlier this month I wrote an essay about the aesthetics of fascism, and at first glance "Coriolanus" seems like an easy story to turn to fascistic purposes. Indeed, many actual fascists have embraced William Shakespeare's early 17th century play as their own, and...

I loved Roger Ebert, and he hated "Rosencrantz and Guildenstern Are Dead," which poses quite a conundrum for me. The legendary film critic didn't just pan the movie, which was directed by Tom Stoppard (based on his 1966 play of the same name) and starred Gary Oldman...

Forget for a moment that "Chimes at Midnight" is based on the works of William Shakespeare, widely considered one of the greatest writers in the English language. Forget that it was directed by Orson Welles, widely considered one of the greatest directors in American...

"He may be a jerk, but he's a great man. He's brilliant. I mean, you'll never be great or brilliant. You're dependable." Some movies can be summed up in one quote, and this is the one that captures the essence of "The Beach Bum." Harmony Korine's 2019 stoner comedy...

Three years before Harmony Korine released "Spring Breakers," he made a microbudget social horror film called "Trash Humpers." That movie, despite having the word "trash" in its title, is actually pretty good. By contrast "Spring Breakers," despite having the...

I am not schizophrenic, but I identified very deeply with "Julien Donkey-Boy." If you have ever struggled with mental illness — and can handle the movie's distinctly "indie" style — I suspect you will too. Like many films written and directed by Harmony Korine, there...

There is a lot to like in "Mister Lonely," Harmony Korine's 2007 oddity about a group of celebrity impersonators who live on their own island. Like his best work — including "Gummo," "Julien-Donkey Boy" and "Trash Humpers" — Korine identifies with the fringiest...

America is a nation of consumers. All human beings throughout history have consumed, of course — for survival, pleasure or both — but there is a difference between consuming out of necessity or for enjoyment and doing so as an obsessive indulgence. One look at...

Indie films are often criticized for being pretentious, and to be sure quite a few richly deserve that epithet. Yet there is a difference between going out of your way to seem "artsy" and actually having an authentic, offbeat way of using the medium of cinema to tell...

"Halloween H20" is the worst film in the series, and for one reason… its distracting plot holes. If you've seen the first two "Halloween" movies, which were released in 1978 and 1980, I can't imagine why you're reading this article. They are staples of the American...