World on a Wire (Fassbinder, 1973)
Janus/Criterion has just re-released a beautiful print of Rainer Werner Fassbinder’s 1973 two-part film, World on a Wire, and I was fortunate enough to have 210 minutes free on a Saturday afternoon to...
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Hurdy Gurdy (Daniel Seideneder and Daniel Pfeiffer, 2011)
In World on a Wire (reviewed previously), Rainer Werner Fassbinder explored the possibility of creating a miniature world through the use of a computer. In Hurdy Gurdy, a wonderful new short film from...
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Waste Land (Lucy Walker, 2010)
As part of the 2012 noon-to-midnight MIT Urban Planning Movie Marathon, we screened Waste Land, which has already won a number of awards, including the 2010 Audience Award for Best World Cinema...
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Master Plan (Robert Todd, 2011)
I first saw Robert Todd’s Master Plan over five months ago, and I’m still thinking about it. It’s a beautiful documentary of the best kind: one that presents stirring images and thought-provoking...
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The Pruitt-Igoe Myth (Chad Freidrichs, 2011)
There are a number of important films that tell a story that you’ve never heard before; THE PRUITT-IGOE MYTH, on the other hand, tells a story you’ve heard many times over, but does so in a way that...
View ArticleWaste Land (2010) Review in Planning Magazine
The January 2013 issue of the APA’s Planning Magazine features my review of the 2010 film, Waste Land, originally reviewed here on UrbanFilm.org. Click here to see it.
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Cape Spin! An American Power Struggle (Robbie Gemmel and John Kirby, 2012)
Benefiting from impressively-close access on all sides of the controversy — and a Hellerian ear for the absurd — CAPE SPIN! AN AMERICAN POWER STRUGGLE recounts the saga of development review around the...
View Article“Filmericks” from my “City in Film” class
This semester I’ve been teaching a new course on “The City in Film” in MIT’s Department of Urban Studies and Planning. As the syllabus describes: Using film as a lens to explore and interpret various...
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Blow-Up: the Filmerick
As described previously, I’ve been exploring a new medium, the “filmerick” (limericks to summarize great films). Over the weekend my daughter and I were fortunate to catch a special screening of...
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Watermark: Reflections on a Vital Resource
For one week starting April 11, the Kendall Cinema in Cambridge will feature a new film called WATERMARK by Jennifer Baichwal and Edward Burtynsky. It’s a clever and fitting title, as the film’s main...
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Rebels with a Cause (Nancy Kelly, 2014)
This documentary, subtitled “How a battle over land changed the American landscape forever,” recounts the battles to stop development of the country’s national seashores and other recreation areas....
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“Behemoth” review on CityLab
The Atlantic’s CityLab features my review of the Zhao Liang’s hauntingly meditative documentary, Behemoth. Click, read, watch, share. [R]ather than focus close-in on the maw of this insatiable beast,...
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Meowtropolis: Review of “Kedi” (New York Observer)
My review of Ceyda Torun’s 2016 documentary KEDI is now out in The New York Observer. Everyone in the neighborhood has a favorite catthey give them names, personalities, entire narratives....
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Visions of Alt-Berlin in “Man in the High Castle” (no spoilers)
A condensed version of this article appears on The Atlantic’s CityLab. When used judiciously, establishing shots are one of the most useful techniques in film and television. As the curtain opens on a...
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Remembering “The Inner City Mother Goose”
A condensed version of this article appears on The Atlantic’s CityLab Figure 1: Enrico Natali, Detroit 1968 (from http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2013/12/31/detroit-1968-enrico-natali_n_4523239.html) At...
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Citizen Jane: Battle for the City
The epic struggles between Jane Jacobs and Robert Moses have achieved mythic status in the lore of urban planners: two larger-than-life heroes battling over the streets, skylines, and neighborhoods of...
View Article“The Experimental City” review on NextCity
My latest op-ed on NextCity discusses THE EXPERIMENTAL CITY, a new documentary by Chad Freidrichs (THE PRUIT-IGOE MYTH). The film explores the lost history of a futuristic attempt to solve urban...
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“The World Before Your Feet” review on CityLab
The Atlantic’s CityLab features my review of Jeremy Workman’s new documentary, THE WORLD BEFORE YOUR FEET. Click, read, watch, share. As he describes his current project on his blog “I’m Just...
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“Charm City” review on CityLab
Check out the Atlantic’s CityLab for my latest review of Charm City, a new documentary by Marilyn Ness set on the streets of Baltimore. Thus, while the film is full of the clichés and conventions of...
View Article“Blindspotting” (2018) Review in Planning Magazine
The January 2019 issue of the APA’s Planning Magazine features my capsule review of the 2018 film, Blindspotting. Blending humor, drama, social commentary, and masterfully lyrical dialog, the film...
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