Ammonite tells a 19th-century love story that prompts less a tingle through the loins than a chill down the spine.
Author Archives: Eileen G'Sell
Eileen G'Sell is a regular contributor to Salon, VICE, and the Los Angeles Review of Books, among other publications. In 2019 she was nominated for the Rabkin prize in arts journalism. She teaches at Washington University in St. Louis.
A David Wojnarowicz Documentary Honors the Gritty, Glorious Chaos of His Life
In Wojnarowicz’s work, as in his life, testing the limits of artistic categories and systemic and institutional power was central to his impassioned vision.
A Woman Escapes the Grip of Men in Charlie Kaufman’s Latest Film
Director Charlie Kaufman’s men leech off women for validation, while women attempt to escape their parasitic grip.
Wacky, Romantic Dramedies to Brighten a Foreboding Fall
Three recent French dramedies boast their own individual je ne sais quoi, less in spite than because of their wacky storylines.
Relic Joins the New Era of “Mommy Horror”
Relic delves into a darkness beyond filial caregiving, approaching the mother figure as the first, and last, monster, her house a veritable womb for distinctly female trauma.
Photos That Honor the Interior Lives of Diverse Black Women
In her photographs, Katherine Simóne Reynolds suggests that vulnerability is vital to a full sense of self, but it is a luxury that Black women across age and background are perpetually denied.
A John Lewis Documentary Probes Tensions Between National and State Power
For any American even mildly ignorant of the rich, complex legacy of Civil Rights within our decidedly disunited country, Dawn Porter’s John Lewis: Good Trouble should be mandatory viewing.
The Delirium of Female Desire
Across Josephine Decker’s work and in her new film about Shirley Jackson, Decker wants us to ask what right she, or anyone, has to make another’s story her own.
A Model Who Shunned Celebrity for Marxism
The Disappearance of My Mother honors the staunch conviction and introversion of Benedetta Barzini, who shunned Warhol celebrity for political solidarity, and in her later years, Spartan solitude.
The Eccentric Genius of Agnès Varda
With her devotion to cats and heart-shaped everything, Varda personified adorably unconventional thinking — without apology or apparent self-consciousness.
The Quiet Dignity of Peter Hujar
Hujar wrote that his portrait subjects were “those who push themselves to any extreme” and those who “cling to the freedom to be themselves.”
The Power and Limits of Ai Weiwei’s Irreverence
While his political commitment comes through in many works, it’s hard to square talk of “revolution” with Ai Weiwei’s staggering mainstream US success.