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ReelPolitik
A blog about film and politics, and the politics of filmmaking.
Anthony Kaufman is a film journalist and critic, who has written for the New York Times, the Los Angeles Times, the Chicago Tribune, the Village Voice and Slate, and contributes regularly to Variety, indieWIRE, the Wall Street Journal Online and the Utne Reader.
[Email Me]
Articles
- "Piracy May Be an Indie Filmmaker's Best Friend" (Indiewire, October 2011
- "The Decline of Indies on Netflix" (indieWIRE, Sept, 2011)
- "Secretariat" Isn't Hollywood's Only Secretly Conservative Blockbuster" (IFC News, October 2010)
- "Absurdistan: The New Iraq War Cinema" (Village Voice, April 2008)
- "Is Foreign Film The New Endangered Species?" (New York Times, January 2006)
ReelPolitik
The Politics of "The Avengers"; Or, Can Clean Energy and Old-Fashioned Jingoism Mix?
- By Anthony Kaufman
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- May 7, 2012 10:10 AM
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- 2 Comments
I couldn't help myself. Not because I'm a fan of comic books, blockbusters or Josh Whedon, but because I'm always curious about a cultural phenonemon, and often feel the need to interrogate what is at play in our most popular movies, and especially since this may be the most popular one of all time. "The Avengers" embodies what I've always felt about Hollywood juggernauts: they're a hodgepodge of political views and ideological undercurrents, colliding with each other to create a mainstream entertainment that, if you look close enough, manages to uphold old-fashioned reactionary American values. Here, it's such myths as militaristic might, individual sacrifice and the renegade American hero--allthough, it also seems to throw a bone to contemporary liberal views on energy policy at the same time.
10 Years of War: "Hell and Back Again" review
- By Anthony Kaufman
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- October 5, 2011 1:48 AM
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- 0 Comments
Far from Afghanistan: On 10th anniversary of war, U.S. filmmakers make call to action
- By Anthony Kaufman
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- September 28, 2011 3:48 AM
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- 0 Comments
Torture Docs Redux: "You Don’t Like the Truth: 4 Days Inside Gitmo"
- By Anthony Kaufman
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- September 28, 2011 1:29 AM
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- 0 Comments
Preview: "Carnage" and the Politics of Roman Polanski (updated)
- By Anthony Kaufman
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- August 22, 2011 1:00 AM
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- 2 Comments
Brian De Palma Gets Political (again) with "The Key Man"
- By Anthony Kaufman
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- August 19, 2011 12:00 PM
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- 0 Comments
Is John Sayles' America's Most Humanist-Political Filmmaker? "Amigo" Takes on U.S. Occupation
- By Anthony Kaufman
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- August 16, 2011 6:20 AM
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- 0 Comments
Bigelow Responds to GOP: "Kill Bin Laden" Not a Pro-Obama Campaign Ad -- Duh.
- By Anthony Kaufman
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- August 10, 2011 8:29 AM
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- 0 Comments
Why Not Call it "'Kill Bill' Laden": The Problem with Bigelow's “Kill Bin Laden"
- By Anthony Kaufman
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- August 2, 2011 12:05 PM
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- 1 Comment
Latest Tweets
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RT @antkaufman: Cannes 2012 Preview: What Could Be This Year's THE ARTIST? http://t.co/5ViNhQa7
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RT @TedHope: Hey @antkaufman can you or someone start the BAN SHOOTING IN N.CAROLINA petition (until they allow same sex marriage)? http://t.co/okBe1ZHQ
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@TedHope @antkaufman But there's so many to shoot there. #toosoon?
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Recent Comments
It's funny but this was exactly what was bothering me about The Avengers; that it seemed to be
Notice though, that Captain America is the first to not take Nick Fury's clean unlimited energy
I don't know if John Krasinski has reached the level of fame at which he requires no first name
I think people are judging the film too harshly. Yes, Compliance stretches plausibility to the
My husband and I walked out at the one hour mark. We could no longer stand to participate in or
Like AlexJB, I and my three friends walked out of this film after an hour. We could no longer be
Having just sat through 1 hour of COMPLIANCE at the SF International FilmFest, I have to agree with
The problem with tv in general is it sucks. Reality shows about people you don't care about,
Where IS this show? Most channels re-run the h*ll out of everything. I dvr'd this show when
I could see that the fill was putting the Chinese point of view. They are hardly going to praise up