Author Archives: Patrice Bowman

Why should the fog in “The Lodger,” one of many films about Jack the Ripper, stand out? The black-and-white cinematography of Lucien Ballard sharply divides the buildings from the fog, lending thickness to the haze. The soupy fog’s ceaseless rolling transforms into a pulsating creature that whispers death. When the first murder occurs off-screen, fog »

In 1964, the Beatles took no prisoners when they charmed their way into the ears and hearts of Americans. With “A Hard Day’s Night,” directed by Richard Lester, the Beatles captured the silver screen as well. Is “A Hard Day’s Night” just a promotional film? Yes; Richard Lester did churn out a quick, low-budget cash-in. »

On Feb. 29, one day shy of Women’s History Month, the Yale Women’s Center presented the documentary “Miss Representation” at the Whitney Humanities Center to a nearly full auditorium. Articulating the media’s limited and often negative portrayals of females, the documentary (written, produced and directed by Jennifer Siebel Newson) made a big impression at Sundance »

Ridley Scott’s “Legend” is one of the most interesting failures that I’ve ever seen. It could have been the definitive grown-up fairy tale. Scott has brilliance, but even his best films repeatedly show a triumph of visuals and story ideas over character development. In “Legend,” the story stands as a middling mix of fairy tale »

(Welcome to my weekly blog, in which I distill what made a certain older film great — or not so great — and pass it along to you.) “The Black Narcissus,” from Michael Powell and Emeric Pressburger (the British filmmaking duo known as “the Archers”), is a great film that sits between psychological drama and »

Welcome to “Aging at 24 Frames per Second,” a blog where I — Patrice Bowman — will review older films. Not just the well-known older films of the likes of “Citizen Kane” and “Psycho,” but others that have been obscured but fully deserve a closer look. In 250-500 words, I hope to distill what made »

Springtime is (not really) here. But what the spring semester has brought us — besides cold, snow and cold snow — is a new batch of classes in the Film Studies Department. I’m in love with almost every single course. But, for brevity’s sake, I bring to you the most promising. Just in time for »