Indiana University Cinema

A review of To Be or Not to Be (1942) Laughing Through It All: The Dreadful Humor and Hope in To Be or Not to Be, by Ben van Welzen Hollywood has had its fair share of the anti-war comedy. Going back all the way to Charlie Chaplin’s The G...

Our @letterboxd.social latest: Ben van Welzen praises the delicate balance of biting satire and the violent realities of World War II in Ernst Lubitsch’s 1942 masterpiece TO BE OR NOT TO BE, screening 3/8 as part of our Hoosiers on Screen marathon.

A review of Bones and All (2022) Tragedy and Cannibals in Bones and All, by Alex Brannan What is at once a romance, a road movie, a coming-of-age story, and a thriller that flirts with body horror, Bones and All is first and foremost...

New on @letterboxd.social: Alex Brannan explains how the Luca Guadagnino film BONES AND ALL (screening 3/6) reinterprets its YA novel origins to strengthen and complicate its female protagonist’s coming-of-age story.

A review of Eyes Without a Face (1960) A Less Bloody Cut: Eyes Without a Face, by Alex Brannan In her analysis of Eyes Without a Face (Georges Franju, 1960), film scholar and IU emeritus professor Joan Hawkins situates Franju’s film as a “...

Alex Brannan considers one of the most infamous scenes of Georges Franju's EYES WITHOUT A FACE, its reinterpretation for the U.S. re-release (screening on 2/28), and why the film shouldn’t be defined as conventional horror on @letterboxd.social:

A review of Twin Peaks (1989) “Kind of Fun This Way:” The Unexpected Pleasures of Twin Peaks’ “Worst” Episodes, by Jesse Pasternack There are few seasons of television as reviled as the second season of Twin Peaks (1990-1991). It ...

On @letterboxd.social: Jesse Pasternack argues that TWIN PEAKS' second season is a singular television experience that defines the show at its funniest and most delightfully unhinged. Catch the last five episodes of season two this Sunday!

A review of Nouvelle Vague (2025) Join the Wave, by Noni Ford It’s hard to express exactly how alluring the pull of French New Wave cinema is to the mind of a budding film connoisseur. When immersing yourself into the creativity of it...

New on @letterboxd.social: Noni Ford reflects on the birth of the French New Wave, as depicted by Richard Linklater’s latest film NOUVELLE VAGUE (screening tonight and tomorrow!), and her hopes for the future of film movements.

A review of Faster, Pussycat! Kill! Kill! (1965) Subversiveness and Sleaze in Faster, Pussycat! Kill! Kill!, by Alex Brannan Director Russ Meyer was either an exploitation sleaze-meister or a subversive accidental feminist, depending on who you ask....

Alex Brannan details how Russ Meyer’s exploitation flick FASTER, PUSSYCAT! KILL! KILL! (screening on 2/6) earns its status as a cult classic on @letterboxd.social:

A review of Megalopolis (2024) Megalopolis: Flop or Masterpiece?, by Alex Brannan In 2021, Francis Ford Coppola announced he would begin filming Megalopolis, a film that he had been working on for four decades (including a script t...

Alex Brannan contextualizes Francis Ford Coppola’s notorious and divisive 2024 epic MEGALOPOLIS (screening 1/29) on @letterboxd.social:

We’re closed because of the snow! Today’s TWIN PEAKS screening has been moved to Sunday 2.1 at 10am. Today’s tickets are good for next week’s show. Questions: iucinema@iu.edu

A review of Throne of Blood (1957) Twin Blades: Kurosawa and Mifune, by Michael A. McRobbie ... [Throne of Blood] is, quite simply, one of the finest literary adaptations from any culture or any genre ever committed to celluloid. [Akir...

On @letterboxd.social: IU Chancellor Michael A. McRobbie shares his introductory remarks ahead of our January 24th screening of THRONE OF BLOOD, the first film in our series of Akira Kurosawa/Toshiro Mifune collaborations as chosen by McRobbie.

A review of Tokyo Olympiad (1965) “A Long and Hard Way:” Why Tokyo Olympiad (1965) is One of the Great Sports Films, by Jesse Pasternack Tokyo Olympiad is one of the best sports documentaries ever made. That’s not just because directo...

On @letterboxd.social: Jesse Pasternack makes a case for why Kon Ichikawa’s portrait of the ’64 Olympics TOKYO OLYMPIAD (screening 1/27) is the gold standard for sports documentaries.

A review of Dredd (2012) Broken Worlds and Mechanical Justice in Dredd, by Noni Ford As we sweep through the hyper-metropolis that is Mega-City One, an urban landscape that would likely fill anyone with even a vague unease of...

Noni Ford explores the 2012 sci-fi actioner DREDD (screening in 3D on 1/22) and how its depiction of enhanced criminal forces relate to what is currently happening with AI and other recent technologies on @letterboxd.social:

A review of Yi Yi (2000) Stuck in the Window: The Fractured Structures in Yi Yi, by Ben van Welzen Yi Yi is full of windows. Across the three-hour film, director Edward Yang navigates the lives of a middle-class family in Tai...

New on @letterboxd.social: Ben van Welzen discusses how the fraught tensions of Taiwan’s geopolitical landscape are hidden beneath the quiet family drama of Edward Yang’s 2000 masterpiece YI YI (screening 1/21 in a new 4K restoration).

A review of Wake Up Dead Man (2025) Seven Classics to Watch After Seeing Wake Up Dead Man: A Knives Out Mystery, by Michaela Owens When it comes to the Knives Out films from writer/director Rian Johnson, I cannot be objective: I’m obses...

New on @letterboxd.social: Michaela Owens recommends a handful of films to check out that either influenced or go well with Rian Johnson’s latest murder-mystery masterclass WAKE UP DEAD MAN (screening 12/19 with composer Nathan Johnson in attendance!).

A review of Pride & Prejudice (2005) Swooning Across Centuries: The Adaptation and Persistence of Pride and Prejudice, by Ben van Welzen It is a truth universally acknowledged, that a romance story in the setting of Regency England, must...

Ben van Welzen breaks down what makes PRIDE & PREJUDICE, the 2005 adaptation of Jane Austen’s best known novel that is screening on 12/13, such a successful film on @letterboxd.social:

A review of The Apartment (1960) Dilemmas of the Heart in Corporate America, by Noni Ford We’ve been in a bit of a romance drought. Whether we try to chase it down in the often bizarrely updated literary classics that somehow lose al...

On @letterboxd.social: Noni Ford laments the current state of the romantic comedy and explains why Billy Wilder’s 1960 masterwork THE APARTMENT (screening in 4K on 12/13) should be what the modern rom-com landscape aspires to today.

A review of The Muppet Christmas Carol (1992) The Muppet Christmas Carol: Practicing Joy, by Alex Brannan Most of the articles I have written in this forum over the last six months have been invested, at least in part, in analyzing the politics a...

New on @letterboxd.social: Alex Brannan gives into the holiday spirit and praises the undeniable exuberance of a yuletide classic, THE MUPPET CHRISTMAS CAROL (screening 12/6).

A review of El Conde (2023) “Empty Husk:” The Use of Black-and-White Cinematography in El Conde (2023), by Jesse Pasternack El Conde (2023) is a great example of Stephen Sondheim’s principle that “content dictates form.” The con...

Jesse Pasternack explains how the cinematography of Pablo Larraín’s dark satire EL CONDE (screening tomorrow, 12/4) works so well in the context of the film on @letterboxd.social:

A review of Images of Asian Music (A Diary from Life 1973-74) (1974) Peter Hutton: Sculpting with Light, by Richard Jermain Peter Hutton (1944-2016) was a prolific experimental filmmaker of landscapes and cities. Like Derek Jarman, his images are often evocative of pai...

Our @letterboxd.social latest: Underground Film Series curator Richard Jermain contextualizes the undersung directorial work of the quietly influential Peter Hutton, whose films IMAGES OF ASIAN MUSIC and LODZ SYMPHONY we'll be screening this Friday, 11/5.

A review of Pan's Labyrinth (2006) “Without Questioning”: The Role of Disobedience in Pan’s Labyrinth (2006), by Jesse Pasternack There are some films which wash away the years when you revisit them. Every time I return to Pan’s Labyri...

Jesse Pasternack explains how PAN'S LABYRINTH (screening 11/20) develops one of filmmaker Guillermo Del Toro’s most frequent themes on @letterboxd.social:

A review of Ten Nights in a Barroom (1926) An Interview with Composer Jamey Guzman, by Noni Ford On November 15th, the IU Cinema will be screening Roy Calnek’s Ten Nights in a Barroom accompanied by a new composed score from Jon Vickers Scorin...

Noni Ford speaks with composer and Jon Vickers Scoring Award winner Jamey Guzman about her new score for the 1926 film TEN NIGHTS IN A BARROOM (which will have its world premiere on 11/15), her advice for aspiring composers, and more on @letterboxd.social:

A review of Green Room (2015) Politics, Power, Poseur: Green Room, by Alex Brannan The means of arrival at the horrific circumstances at the center of Green Room are utterly simple. It’s as easy as entering the wrong room, like on...

New on @letterboxd.social: Alex Brannan takes a stage dive into how the 2015 thriller GREEN ROOM (screening 11/13) explores ideas of identity and authenticity with its conceit of a punk band fighting for their lives.

A review of Rosemary's Baby (1968) A Little Less Baby, A Little More Rosemary, by Ava Clouden I struggle to reconcile a truth I hold for myself: an evil man made an excellent movie. An industry that enables, protects, and valorizes pre...

IU Cinema House Manager Ava Clouden wrestles with why they still find their pick for this fall’s Staff Selects series, ROSEMARY'S BABY (screening 11/14), to be a resonant piece of cinema despite its incredibly controversial director on @letterboxd.social:

A review of Weird: The Al Yankovic Story (2022) A Musician’s Mysteries: Music Biopics as Adaptation, by Ben van Welzen What is the purpose of the musician’s biopic? The cynic may say the films take advantage of the public’s nostalgia to capitalize ...

On @letterboxd.social: Ben van Welzen breaks down how musician biopics like WEIRD: THE AL YANKOVIC STORY go beyond the usual tropes to match the allure of their subjects. Catch WEIRD w/producer Mike Farah tonight, 11/7, at 7pm!

A review of Mary Jane's Not a Virgin Anymore (1996) Radical Sex Positivity in the Films of Sarah Jacobson, by Alex Brannan “We’re gonna f*ck sh*t up!” According to IndieWire, this was a phrase filmmaker Sarah Jacobson would repeat “with a big smile, to...

New on @letterboxd.social: Alex Brannan champions the rebellious ethos and audacious feminism of two works by underground film icon Sarah Jacobson, I WAS A TEENAGE SERIAL KILLER and MARY JANE'S NOT A VIRGIN ANYMORE, both of which will be screened on 11/8.

A review of The Confession (1970) Politics and Propaganda: The Cinema of Costa-Gavras, by Michael A. McRobbie Born Konstantinos Gavras in Greece in 1933, the filmmaker’s life was shaped by post-war political turmoil. His father, a gov...

New on @letterboxd.social: IU Chancellor Michael A. McRobbie shares his introductory remarks from our October 25th screening of THE CONFESSION, the second film in our ongoing series of Costa-Gavras films, which will conclude this Saturday, 11/1, with MISSING.

A review of Missing (1982) Missing: Inaction, by Chris Forrester For those unfamiliar with its filmmaker, Costa-Gavras’s Palme d’Or-winning Missing (1982 — it shared the win with the Turkish film Yol) may come as a bitter surpr...

Chris Forrester articulates how Costa-Gavras’s Palme d'Or-winning drama MISSING (screening 11/1) subverts the idea of the “Hollywood true story” movie in favor of realism and harsh truths on @letterboxd.social:

A review of Clown in a Cornfield (2025) The Fear of the (Technological) Other: Clown in a Cornfield and Red Rooms, by Alex Brannan The Cinema’s upcoming double feature of Eli Craig’s Clown in a Cornfield and Pascal Plante’s Red Rooms presen...

On @letterboxd.social: Alex Brannan takes a look at the clever interrogation of tech in the throwback slasher CLOWN IN A CORNFIELD and the bone-chilling thriller RED ROOMS. See both films as part of our Slice & Dice Double Feature on 10/31!

A review of Donnie Darko (2001) Be an Outcast, Save the World in Donnie Darko, by Noni Ford Donnie never says the things we think he’ll say, and though he does understand the social hierarchy and pecking order of his bus stop along ...

New on @letterboxd.social: Noni Ford describes how cult classic DONNIE DARKO’s outsider characters question the normalization and acceptance of their town’s insidious behavior. See the film in a new 4K restoration on 10/24!

It’s VIDEO STORE DAY! Head on over to see our friends @vulturevideo.bsky.social today from noon-10pm for all the good stuff