Press Play

"The best video essay source on the web." (Roger Ebert) This web site is built on a mix of original video essays and critical, personal writing about film, TV, and their connection to broader cultural concerns. Co-founded by Matt Zoller Seitz, TV critic for New York Magazine, and Ken Cancelosi, it is overseen by Editor-in-Chief Max Winter.

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VIDEO ESSAY: Who Should Win the Oscar for Best Lead Actress

Awards

Some Best Actress contenders seem to be nominated for their roles more than for their performances, but the most deserving actress is a smart exception.

By Kevin B. Lee
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January 31, 2013 7:13 PM
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3 Comments

Festivals

Michael Haneke’s "Amour" dares to address the possibility that nightmares and hopeful dreams can co-exist in the same closed-off cinematic space.

By Glenn Heath Jr.
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May 20, 2012 3:48 PM
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1 Comment

Festivals

Indifference kills quietly in Amour, the new psychodrama from Austrian provocateur Michael Haneke (The White Ribbon, Cache). In this devastating character study about the hell that is caring for an ailing loved one, writer and director Haneke explores grief as a slow, gnawing process. Coping with loss does not, however, begin with a catalyst as mundane as physical illness. Instead, it starts and ends with a debilitating kind of depression that’s facilitated by solitude. For Haneke, grief is just as frightening as death because it’s also a draining progression that we necessarily go through alone.