drama — Blog — 3 Brothers Film

“We are through the looking glass:” Watching Oliver Stone’s JFK (1991) in the Information Age

60 years after John F. Kennedy’s assassination, Oliver Stone’s JFK captures how essential conspiracy is to modern life,

Essays, (Re)Viewing the CanonAnders BergstromNovember 22, 2023JFK, JFK Revisited: Through the Looking Glass, Oliver Stone, Kevin Costner, Donald Sutherland, drama, conspiracy theory, thriller, mystery, Internet, American politicsComment

Review: How to Blow Up a Pipeline (2022)

Daniel Goldhaber’s adaptation of the nonfiction book, How to Blow Up a Pipeline, works well as both a taut procedural drama and a work of moral-political questioning.

Reviews, The Current: In TheatresAnders BergstromApril 21, 2023How to Blow Up a Pipeline, Daniel Goldhaber, drama, heist, environment, politics, adaptationComment

Review: Mr. Smith Goes to Washington (1939)

Mr. Smith Goes to Washington is Frank Capra’s great American political folktale.

Reviews, Flash BackAnton BergstromMarch 7, 2023Jimmy Stewart, Frank Capra, American politics, Sidney Buchman, Jean Arthur, Claude Rains, Edward Arnold, Guy Kibbee, Thomas Mitchell, Astrid Allwyn, comedy, drama, US Senate, idealism, cynicismComment

Review: White Noise (2022)

Noah Baumbach’s adaptation of the landmark postmodern novel by Don DeLillo fails to deliver despite the enduring relevance of the novel’s subjects and themes.

Reviews, The Current: At HomeAnders BergstromFebruary 17, 2023White Noise, Noah Baumbach, Adam Driver, Greta Gerwig, Don Cheadle, drama, comedy, posthumanism, literary adaptationComment

Review: The Northman (2022)

Robert Eggers’ The Northman is a violent Viking epic that offers a portrait of the past as an alien experience yet recognizably human.

Reviews, The Current: In TheatresAnders BergstromMay 11, 2022The Northman, historical epic, drama, violence, Alexander Skarsgard, Anya Taylor-JoyComment

Review: The Mauritanian (2021)

The story of Mohamedou Ould Salahi and his 14 year imprisonment is affecting, but Kevin McDonald’s film doesn’t quite do it justice.

Reviews, The Current: In TheatresAnders BergstromMarch 19, 2021The Mauritanian, Kevin McDonald, Jodie Foster, Tahar Rahim, Shailene Woodley, Benedict Cumberbatch, War on Terror, drama, true storyComment

Table Talk: Da 5 Bloods (2020)

Anders and Anton discuss the new Spike Lee Vietnam War film, Da 5 Bloods, and how it fits into Lee’s on filmography, the Black Lives Matter movement, and the legacy of American imperialism in Southeast Asia.

RoundtablesAnders BergstromJune 26, 2020Table Talk, Spike Lee, war movie, drama, race, Vietnam, Delroy LIndo, Clarke Peters, Isiah Whitlock Jr., Jonathan Majors, Norm Lewis, Paul Walter Hauser, Melanie Thierry, Jaspar Paakonen, Jean RenoComment

Review: Young Ahmed (2019)

The newest film from the Dardenne Brothers, Young Ahmed, tells the story of a young teenager in Belgium who has been radicalized by fundamentalist Islam and how that affects his relationship with his community and society.

Reviews, The Current: At HomeAnders BergstromJune 4, 2020The Dardenne Brothers, Luc Dardenne, Jean-Pierre Dardenne, Europe, social criticism, social realism, neorealism, drama, IslamComment

Review: Wanda (1970)

Recently restored and now on Blu-ray and DVD, Barbara Loden’s Wanda (1970) is a landmark portrayal of one woman aimless and adrift in America.

Reviews, Flash BackAnders BergstromMarch 19, 2019Wanda, Barbara Loden, 1970s, existentialism, drama, independent filmComment

David Cronenberg: Spider (2002)

In Spider, David Cronenberg offers perhaps one of his most sympathetic portraits in this literary adaptation of a tale of schizophrenia featuring a powerful performance from Ralph Fiennes.

David Cronenberg, ReviewsAnders BergstromNovember 30, 2018David Cronenberg, David Cronenberg Retrospective, Spider, Patrick McGrath, literary adaptation, mental illness, Ralph Fiennes, Miranda Richardson, Lynn Redgrave, Gabriel Byrne, drama, subjectivity, psychological thriller, schizophreniaComment

Table Talk: Creed II (2018)

Anders and Aren discuss Creed II: the latest in the Rocky series is an enjoyable if overstuffed sequel that looks at different father and child relationships while calling back to the old Rocky films.