The Year in Movie Longreads, Episode I: The Phantom Thinkpiece

Every year there are a number of long, substantive articles; thinkpieces, profiles, interviews, scholarly overviews; that are published, noted, bookmarked, and, in some cases, never gotten around to. The holidays provide many opportunities for catching up.

Over the next couple of posts, I will attempt to collect some of those longreads that you may have missed, or not had a chance to devote much attention to. Here are some of the best thinkpieces of the year.

• Politico published an extremely topical article by Benjamin Hufbauer called How Donald Trump’s Favorite Movie Explains Him. Surely I am not alone in finding out that THAT MOVIE is his favorite?!

• Wesley Morris’ fascinating New York Times piece Last Taboo: Why Pop Culture Just Can’t Deal With Black Male Sexuality is certainly thought-provoking, from it’s first sentence, “These are banner times for penises onscreen.”

• In Film Comment, Shonni Enelow examines the phenomenon of emotional contact (and the withholding of emotional contact) with our movie stars in the piece The Great Recession.

• Finally, Trey Taylor asks “Should Film Roles Be Played By The ‘Correct’ Gender & Race?”