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Widely considered one of the most important and prolific film critics in America, Jonathan Rosenbaum began his career in the 1970s writing film criticism for Sight and Sound, Film Comment, and the Village Voice before becoming chief critic of the Chicago Reader from 1987 to 2008. At the Reader, he published over 5,000 reviews and columns; now, Jonathan runs his own website where he publishes old and new capsules. He is known, among other things, for being a champion of independent and international auteurs and for writing about them in a highly accessible yet personal, erudite style. Jean-Luc Godard once likened him to André Bazin and James Agee.

He has written multiple books on film. The latest, In Dreams Begin Responsibilities: A Jonathan Rosenbaum Reader, was published by Hat & Beard Press in June of last year, and can be considered the definitive culmination of Jonathan’s writing (to date!). An autobiographical and chronological journey,...

“In Dreams Begin Responsibilities” is the title of a new Jonathan Rosenbaum reader, culminating nearly six decades of never-before-compiled writing on film, jazz, and literature. The legendary Chicago-based film critic known for iconoclastic takes on the canon has been published everywhere from Cahiers du Cinéma to Film Comment, Sight and Sound, and, of course, the Chicago Reader, where he succeeded Dave Kehr as head critic starting in 1987. He retired from that post in 2008.

Rosenbaum, turning 82 this February, is in conversation this weekend at New York’s Metrograph with filmmaker (and friend) Michael Almereyda. They’ll discuss Serbian director Dušan Makavejev’s cult classic, erotically charged political comedy “W.R.: Mysteries of the Organism” (1971), controversial for its montage throughline between sexual liberation and communist revolution, as well as the wild corporate satire “Giants and Toys” (1958) from Yasuzō Masumura. Rosenbaum has long championed the sociopolitically charged works of the Japanese director, who trained under Visconti,...

The 57th Karlovy Vary International Film Festival will focus on independent Iranian cinema this year, with a selection of recent works by directors working outside the Tehran regime.

The nine features, all made in the past four years, and most from young directors at the start of their careers, “offer an insightful testimony of the burning creativity of Iran’s artists in the face of their challenging reality,” the festival said in a statement, calling the films examples of “urgent, unheard, voices who palpably bear a spiritual connection to the previous generations of their country’s greats [and who] tackle the current reality [in Iran] with a remarkable sensitivity and great inventiveness.”

The selection includes two features from this year: Negin Ahmadi’s Dream’s Gate and Zapata from director Danesh Eqbashavi; two from 2022: Nader Saeivar’s No End and The Locust, directed by Faeze Azizkhani; Bahram Ark’s The Skin and Vahid Vakilifar’s K9,...

The 57th edition of Karlovy Vary Intl. Film Festival, which runs June 30-July 8, has planned a retrospective program focused on Iranian cinema with a selection of films made in the past four years. The festival will also celebrate the work of Japanese filmmaker Yasuzo Masumura.

Commenting on the Iranian cinema program, the festival said in a statement: “Collectively these works offer an insightful testimony of the burning creativity of Iran’s artists in face of the challenging reality. Nine mostly young filmmakers – urgent, unheard voices – who palpably bear a spiritual connection to the previous generations of their country’s greats, tackle the current reality with a remarkable sensitivity and great inventiveness.

“Melancholic dramas, comedies, war movies, sci-fis…films about love, and films within films. Together, these nine unique and intensely personal testimonies form a multi-dimensional mosaic that reflect the collective spirit and openness of Iran’s young cinema of today.

Yasuzô Masumura’s Giants And Toys (1958) Special Edition will be available on Blu-ray May 11th from Arrow Video

Giants and Toys is a sharp and snappy corporate satire revolving around the ruthless machinations of a group of admen working in the confectionary industry.

As a new recruit to the marketing department of World Caramel, fresh-faced graduate Nishi (Hiroshi Kawaguchi) is eager to impress his ambitious and hard-nosed boss Goda (Black Test Car’s Hideo Takamatsu), even if it strains his relationships with his college friend Yokoyama (Koichi Fujiyama) and budding love interest Masami (Michiko Ono), who work at the rival companies of Giant and Apollo. With World’s lead over its competitors slipping badly, the two spot a chance to get back in the race in the shape of the pretty but unsophisticated 18-year-old, Kyoko (Hitomi Nozoe). Goda and Nishi get to work polishing this rough diamond as their new campaign girl,...

What makes a Ghost Story scary? This classic was almost too artistic for the Japanese. Masaki Kobayashi's four stories of terror work their spells through intensely beautiful images -- weirdly painted skies, strange mists -- and a Toru Takemitsu audio track that incorporates strange sounds as spooky musical punctuation. Viewers never forget the Woman of the Snow, or the faithful Hoichi the Earless. Finally restored to its full three-hour length. Kwaidan Blu-ray The Criterion Collection 90 1964 / Color / 2:35 widescreen / 183 161, 125 min. / available through The Criterion Collection / Street Date October 20, 2015 / 39.95 Starring Michiyo Aratama, Rentaro Mikuni; Tatsuya Nakadai, Keiko Kishi; Katsuo Nakamura, Tetsurao Tanba, Takashi Shimura; Osamu Takizawa. Cinematography Yoshio Miyajima Film Editor Hisashi Sagara Art Direction Shigemasa Toda Set Decoration Dai Arakawa Costumes Masahiro Kato Original Music Toru Takemitsu Written by Yoko Mizuki from stories collected by Kiozumi Yakumo (Lafcadio Hearn) Produced by Shigeru Wakatsuki Directed by Masaki Kobayashi

Reviewed by Glenn Erickson...