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filmmaker of the month

“The Reluctant Fundamentalist”’s subterfuge of the American Dream

The Reluctant Fundamentalist
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Mira Nair’s adaptation of the Mohsin Hamid novel is a probing exploration of the forces that make us who we are.

Roxana Hadadi Posted on January 28, 2021January 31, 2021

“Amelia” is little more than smoke on the wind

Amelia
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Mira Nair’s most American film may well be her most impersonal.

Tim Stevens Posted on January 26, 2021January 26, 2021

“Kama Sutra: A Tale of Love” is Mira Nair’s inane misadventure

Kama Sutra a Tale of Love
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Mira Nair crafts a messy, regressive tale of sexual liberation filtered through a heteronormative gaze, giving us sex without tempering it with love.

Sumeet Kaur Posted on January 24, 2021January 24, 2021

“Monsoon Wedding” is a warm-hearted ode to family and Indian culture

Monsoon Wedding
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Mira Nair’s breakthrough international hit both draws from Bollywood tradition and breaks out of its restrictions, creating something wholly new and endearing in the process.

Soham Gadre Posted on January 24, 2021January 23, 2021

“Vanity Fair” puts a modern flair on a dusty classic

Vanity Fair
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Mira Nair turns a dreary novel into something bright and beautiful, and changed how we looked at it.

B.L. Panther Posted on January 21, 2021January 21, 2021

Revisiting Mira Nair’s vibrant, character-driven “Salaam Bombay!”

Salaam Bombay!
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Mira Nair’s 1988 breakout remains a scintillating tale of poverty in India’s slums, even as it toes the line of exploitation.

Manish Mathur Posted on January 12, 2021January 12, 2021

January’s Filmmaker of the Month: Mira Nair

Mira Nair Filmmaker of the Month
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We start 2021 by profiling the vibrant, richly textured, deceptively political works of Mira Nair.

Clint Worthington Posted on January 5, 2021February 7, 2021

“The Curious Case of Benjamin Button” is a curious thing indeed

Curious Case of Benjamin Button
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David Fincher’s syrupy historical fantasy is as sumptuously filmed as it is shallowly written.

Tim Stevens Posted on December 31, 2020December 31, 2020

The secret to “The Social Network”‘s success was its soundtrack

The Social Network
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David Fincher’s 2010 drama about the founding of Facebook is nothing without Trent Reznor and Atticus Ross’ groundbreaking score.

Sean Price Posted on December 24, 2020December 24, 2020

“Zodiac” and the very slow walk to justice

Zodiac
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Arguably one of David Fincher’s best films, Zodiac focuses on the tedium of a murder investigation, rather than the crimes themselves.

Gena Radcliffe Posted on December 19, 2020December 19, 2020

For the love of “The Game”, David Fincher’s secret masterpiece

David Fincher The Game
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David Fincher’s Hitchcockian thriller is one of his twistiest, best early works.

Clint Worthington Posted on December 19, 2020December 18, 2020

Inside the uncomfortably small world of “Panic Room”

Panic Room
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One of David Fincher’s more straightforward suspense thrillers, Panic Room finds that greed always levels the playing ground.

Chris Ludovici Posted on December 18, 2020December 18, 2020

Descending into the “Se7en”th circle of hell

Se7en (New Line Cinema)
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David Fincher’s 1995 serial killer thriller elevates the police procedural into a grimy fable about mankind’s fall from grace.

Soham Gadre Posted on December 12, 2020December 12, 2020

“Don’t be afraid, I’m part of the family”: In defense of “Alien 3”

Alien 3
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David Fincher’s first feature may have angered people at the time, but it continues to prove equally daring as a sequel and a debut.

Peter Sobczynski Posted on December 6, 2020December 12, 2020

December’s Filmmaker of the Month: David Fincher

David Fincher
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In honor of the release of Mank, we look back at the director who’s continued to blend noir, thriller, black comedy, and mainstream appeal.

Matt Cipolla Posted on December 3, 2020January 3, 2021

“Detroit” never flinches from its real life horror

Detroit
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Kathryn Bigelow’s most recent film is a brutal, unblinking look at police brutality.

Andrew Bloom Posted on November 29, 2020November 29, 2020

“Zero Dark Thirty” refuses to take a stand

Zero Dark Thirty
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Nearly eight years later, Zero Dark Thirty continues to court controversy by stubbornly refusing to argue for or against the lengths America took to find Osama bin Laden.

Tim Stevens Posted on November 28, 2020November 28, 2020

“K-19: The Widowmaker” runs deep, but far from silent

K-19 the Widowmaker
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Kathryn Bigelow takes her innate sense of the mechanisms of masculinity into a sorely-overlooked Russian submarine drama.

Clint Worthington Posted on November 24, 2020November 24, 2020

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