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January-February 2015

Jemaine Clement and Taika Waititi's What We Do in the Shadows, Aleksei German's Hard to Be a God, Ava DuVernay's Selma, Ruben Östlund’s Force Majeure, 2014 critics' poll & year-end wrap-up, state of art-house exhibition, art-house theater directory, Michael Glawogger, Henry King’s Margie, Xavier Dolan's Mommy, Peter Strickland's The Duke of Burgundy, Rob Marshall's Into the Woods, Abderrahmane Sissako's Timbuktu, Clint Eastwood's American Sniper

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Featured Articles

Issue Details

FEATURES

WHAT WE DO IN THE SHADOWS
By Jonathan Romney
Vampire housemates play host to a documentary crew in Taika Waititi and Jemaine Clement’s comic tour de force

SELMA
By Amy Taubin
Dramatizing a pivotal moment in the Sixties civil rights movement, Ava DuVernay’s film is an all-too-timely call to arms

HARD TO BE A GOD
By Anton Dolin
The late Aleksei German’s adaptation of a classic Russian science-fiction novel creates a brave old world

FORCE MAJEURE
By Michelle Orange
One false move in Ruben Östlund’s latest film causes a family’s well-ordered life to unravel

FINAL CUT 2014
50 Best Films of 201420 Best Unreleased Films of 2014 • Our Top 10s • State of the ArtThe Year in AnimationTony Rayns’s Terra Incognita • Howard Hampton on Only Lovers Left Alive and The Homesman

WRITING FILM HISTORY IN THE 21ST CENTURY
By Scott Eyman
From a globe-spanning archaeological expedition to an armchair adventure

ART-HOUSE EXHIBITION
By Jeff Berg
Post digital conversion, non-chain theaters still battle long-standing problems
Plus: a state-by-state directory of independent cinemas

DEPARTMENTS

EDITOR’S LETTER

OPENING SHOTS
News, Hot Property: Duane Hopkins’s Bypass by Nicolas Rapold, Alex Cox’s 10,000 Ways to Die: John Guillermin’s El Condor, Site Specifics: timebombtown.tumblr.com by Violet Lucca, Trivial Top 20®: Best Uncredited Roles, Restoration Row by Max Nelson

FADE OUT
Michael Glawogger by Stefan Grissemann

ENCORE
Henry King’s Margie by Farran Smith Nehme

SOUND & VISION
“Exposed: Songs for Unseen Warhol Films” by Margaret Barton-Fumo and Nuri Bilge Ceylan’s “The World of My Father” by Max Nelson

A FACE IN THE CROWD
Jill Banner by Chuck Stephens

CRITICS’ CHOICE
Eight critics rate 25 new releases

SCREENINGS
Still Alice by Molly Haskell, Mommy by Joumane Chahine, Tip Top by Nicholas Elliott, The Duke of Burgundy by Steven Mears, Into the Woods by Michael Koresky, Timbuktu by Elisabeth Lequeret, American Sniper by Chris Norris

SHORT TAKES
A Most Violent Year by Eric Hynes, Predestination by Violet Lucca, ’71 by Violet Lucca, Unbroken by Steven Mears, When Evening Falls on Bucharest or Metabolism by Nicolas Rapold, Wild Tales by Nicolas Rapold

HOME MOVIES
The Robert Drew Collection by Nicolas Rapold, The Promised Land by Patrick Friel, Hickey & Boggs by Chuck Stephens, Starry Eyes by Sarah Mankoff, Watership Down by David Filipi, The Changes by Gavin Smith, Middle of Nowhere by Amy Taubin, The Guest by David Fear, 4 Adventures of Reinette and Mirabelle by Steven Mears, Lines of Wellington by Aaron Cutler

READINGS
The Essential Raymond Durgnat edited by Henry K. Miller, reviewed by Paul Fileri; Altman by Kathryn Reed Altman and Giulia D’Agnolo Vallan, reviewed by Nicolas Rapold; Criterion Designs by Eric Skillman, reviewed by Eric Hynes; Be Sand, Not Oil: The Life and Work of Amos Vogel edited by Paul Cronin, reviewed by Jared Rapfogel

GRAPHIC DETAIL
The best posters of 2014 by Adrian Curry

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