The End of American Film Censorship
The Hays Code kept Hollywood on a short leash until the Supreme Court decided in 1952 that films were protected by the First Amendment.
Get Out as Fugue of Double Meanings
It’s said that the best jokes, like the best mysteries, are ones where the punchline is contained in the set-up. Jordan Peele's Get Out offers a sinister reworking of this maxim.
Why Do Rainer Werner Fassbinder’s Films Still Resonate?
A miniseries directed by Rainer Werner Fassbinder finally has its U.S. premier 45 years later and reminds us of the phenomenon of this great German director.
How Women’s Suffrage Has Been Represented in American Film
Women's suffrage was usually portrayed negatively in early films, but suffragists well recognized the importance of movies in getting their message out.
How Hollywood Thrived Through the Red Scare
A young Richard Nixon started asking studio executives why they didn't produce anti-Communist movies. The studios quickly responded with anti-Red films.
Casablanca at 75
On the 75th anniversary of the premier of Casablanca, let's revisit the art and politics of this venerable American classic.
Frederick Wiseman’s Reality Fictions
Frederick Wiseman's 42nd documentary in 50 years of film-making has just been released. What's he making movies about, anyway?
Weirdly Enough, Movies about TV Prepared America for TV
Ironically, it was movies that helped accustom American viewers to television in the first place, writes Richard Koszarski.
Using DNA As a Memory Drive
Scientists have successfully encoded a simple movie in bacteria DNA, and played it back. Using DNA for data storage is not as crazy as it sounds...
Jerry Lewis: French Film Master
Jerry Lewis was lionized in France as a film auteur, a genius of movie-making. What did the French know that Americans didn't?