Bijou Blog

Creative and critical movie writing from the Ped Mall to the moon!

Regular features on the Bijou Blog include reviews, personal and critical essays, creative work, coverage of the True/False film festival, our Youtube Cine-Club, and more! Open to the public for submissions! Submit to bijoubloggers@gmail.com using the format:

Submission title / author name + bio / piece (uploaded as a Doc)

Listen in to Bijou Banter on iTunes, bijou.uiowa.edu, or live on KRUI Fridays at 3pm (FM 89.7)!


Screenshot from Little Men

Little Men (2016)

Sunday, September 11, 2016
  Little Men (2016) is a movie of understatement – like intuiting a pain but being unable to locate the source.
Screenshot from Indignation

INDIGNATION

Tuesday, August 23, 2016
In James Schamus’s directorial debut Indignation, the mounting tension is so incremental one might startle themselves by gasping for air when the credits roll.
Screenshot f rom HERE COME THE VIDEOFREEX

HERE COME THE VIDEOFREEX: The Technology is Political

Tuesday, April 19, 2016
What is the point of HERE COME THE VIDEOFREEX? As a record of the late sixties and early seventies counterculture, it certainly has historical value. The treasure trove of archival material is truly invaluable to anyone interested in the era.
Screenshot from Embrace of the Serpent

Embrace of the Serpent: A Call to Remember

Monday, April 11, 2016
  In the early 20th Century, German scientist Theodor Koch-Grunberg searches for a rare plant in the Amazon. A few decades later, American scientist Richard Evans Schultes embarks on the same quest.
Screenshot from Son of Saul

Son of Saul

Friday, March 4, 2016
The Holocaust is truly something impossible to comprehend. This genocide functioned as the horrific and logical conclusion of the industrial revolution, as an estimated 11 million people were exterminated with the precision and efficiency of a Ford assembly line.
Screenshot from Cronies

Cronies (2015)

Friday, February 26, 2016
In Cronies, written and directed by Michael J. Larnell, the interviewer probes central character Louis Johnson on whether or not he’s in love with the woman he happens to live with.
Screenshot from 45 Years

45 Years

Saturday, February 20, 2016
Early on in director Andrew Haigh’s British drama 45 Years, a party planner casually notes to Charlotte Rampling’s character, Kate, that the building they are standing in is “so full of history – like a good marriage.
Screenshot from Mustang

Mustang (France, 2015)

Wednesday, February 17, 2016
What does it mean to possess desire and passion when you’re a teenage girl living in a remote Turkish village, in a conservative family? Director Deniz Gamze Ergüven explores this question in her debut feature Mustang (2015), a sun streaked film that chronicles the story of five orphaned sisters being…
Screenshot from Welcome to Leith

Welcome to Leith

Saturday, January 30, 2016
  Leith, North Dakota is a small town, 24 people strong. They are initially happy with the prospect of new residents but then discover that their new neighbor is notorious white supremacist Craig Cobb.  There were many ways that filmmakers Michael Beach Nichols and Christopher K.
Screenshot from Anomalisa

Anomalisa

Thursday, January 28, 2016
Anomalisa, despite being stop-motion, is one of those films that feels more real than reality. Directors Duke Johnson and Charlie Kaufman show their extreme expertise as storytellers, creating an innovative and striking look at the tragedies of human connection, loneliness, and individuality.