Chris Vognar
@chrisvognar.bsky.social
TV/Pop Culture Critic, The Boston Globe. Concerned citizen. Ally.
Spent the afternoon rekindling my love for Harvard Film Archive, one of my favorite spots in these parts. On the menu: Truffaut’s The 400 Blows, one of my all-time favorites; and Kiarostami’s Where is the Friend’s House?, also now a favorite. Part of the series New Dog, New Tricks: Youth in Cinema.
October 18, 2025 at 10:43 PM
Spent the afternoon rekindling my love for Harvard Film Archive, one of my favorite spots in these parts. On the menu: Truffaut’s The 400 Blows, one of my all-time favorites; and Kiarostami’s Where is the Friend’s House?, also now a favorite. Part of the series New Dog, New Tricks: Youth in Cinema.
RIP to the great Terence Stamp, who will always be The Limey to me.
August 17, 2025 at 5:42 PM
RIP to the great Terence Stamp, who will always be The Limey to me.
My Bergman series continues Sunday at River Oaks Theatre with The Magician. As some guy named Chris Vognar wrote, “It’s Bergman’s great statement on art and illusion, with a pull-back-the-curtain sequence that ranks among the great scenes in international cinema.”
August 16, 2025 at 7:36 PM
My Bergman series continues Sunday at River Oaks Theatre with The Magician. As some guy named Chris Vognar wrote, “It’s Bergman’s great statement on art and illusion, with a pull-back-the-curtain sequence that ranks among the great scenes in international cinema.”
Savoring my final few film visits to The Museum of Fine Arts, Houston before I move. Tonight was Kurosawa’s The Hidden Fortress, famously a direct influence on Star Wars. It also shares DNA with any number of Westerns, as well as one of my favorite movies, The Treasure of the Sierra Madre.
August 10, 2025 at 3:05 AM
Savoring my final few film visits to The Museum of Fine Arts, Houston before I move. Tonight was Kurosawa’s The Hidden Fortress, famously a direct influence on Star Wars. It also shares DNA with any number of Westerns, as well as one of my favorite movies, The Treasure of the Sierra Madre.
Hello, movie people. I’m introducing Cocteau’s Beauty and the Beast, one of the most enchanting movies I’ve ever seen, this Wednesday at River Oaks Theatre. Come out for the magic.
June 16, 2025 at 4:29 PM
Hello, movie people. I’m introducing Cocteau’s Beauty and the Beast, one of the most enchanting movies I’ve ever seen, this Wednesday at River Oaks Theatre. Come out for the magic.
New York math: If 8 1/2 is showing at Film Forum, and I am in the vicinity of Film Forum, there is a roughly 100% chance I will see 8 1/2.
May 6, 2025 at 8:12 PM
New York math: If 8 1/2 is showing at Film Forum, and I am in the vicinity of Film Forum, there is a roughly 100% chance I will see 8 1/2.
Sybil the Soothsayer will be there. The Mao Zedong Hour will be rolling. Come on out to see Network, the finale in my TV at the Movies series, 6 pm Sunday at River Oaks Theatre. Get mad as hell. If you aren’t already.
April 30, 2025 at 6:14 PM
Sybil the Soothsayer will be there. The Mao Zedong Hour will be rolling. Come on out to see Network, the finale in my TV at the Movies series, 6 pm Sunday at River Oaks Theatre. Get mad as hell. If you aren’t already.
Good to be back in Big D for the Dallas International Film Festival. Gonna see this Gallagher doc and finally smash this watermelon. It takes up a lot of space in my car.
April 30, 2025 at 4:25 PM
Good to be back in Big D for the Dallas International Film Festival. Gonna see this Gallagher doc and finally smash this watermelon. It takes up a lot of space in my car.
“Wouldn’t this be a great world if insecurity and desperation made us more attractive?” Next up in my TV at the Movies series is Broadcast News, which deftly wraps questions of journalistic ethics into a killer romcom. 6 p.m. Sunday at River Oaks Theatre. It’ll be a pretty peppy party, pal.
April 23, 2025 at 6:03 PM
“Wouldn’t this be a great world if insecurity and desperation made us more attractive?” Next up in my TV at the Movies series is Broadcast News, which deftly wraps questions of journalistic ethics into a killer romcom. 6 p.m. Sunday at River Oaks Theatre. It’ll be a pretty peppy party, pal.
“They gave me the answers”: Showing and discussing Quiz Show at the River Oaks Theatre tonight at 6. Part of my TV at the Movies series. Come on down.
April 13, 2025 at 7:08 PM
“They gave me the answers”: Showing and discussing Quiz Show at the River Oaks Theatre tonight at 6. Part of my TV at the Movies series. Come on down.
Via ESPN: Headline written as headline is story’s headline
January 20, 2025 at 11:26 PM
Via ESPN: Headline written as headline is story’s headline
Great Parallax View screening tonight at River Oaks Theatre. Starting to get deep into the aesthetics of paranoia, the sense of alienation and isolation, as in this shot. Next week we’re doing Pakula’s masterpiece, All the President’s Men, also shot by The Prince of Darkness, Gordon Willis.
January 20, 2025 at 3:25 AM
Great Parallax View screening tonight at River Oaks Theatre. Starting to get deep into the aesthetics of paranoia, the sense of alienation and isolation, as in this shot. Next week we’re doing Pakula’s masterpiece, All the President’s Men, also shot by The Prince of Darkness, Gordon Willis.
Still the best AI
December 18, 2024 at 11:52 PM
Still the best AI
In hindsight Pottersville Nick was kind of the perfect bartender
December 14, 2024 at 10:58 PM
In hindsight Pottersville Nick was kind of the perfect bartender
Eyes…bleeding…can’t…see game
December 12, 2024 at 3:04 AM
Eyes…bleeding…can’t…see game
Destined for the Footnote Hall of Fame (from Adam Chandler’s upcoming book 99% Perspiration)
December 11, 2024 at 9:32 PM
Destined for the Footnote Hall of Fame (from Adam Chandler’s upcoming book 99% Perspiration)
I really like smart work about the act of watching movies. A quick leaf-through tells me this qualifies. Sold!
December 2, 2024 at 8:38 PM
I really like smart work about the act of watching movies. A quick leaf-through tells me this qualifies. Sold!
Today’s Film Forum adventure: Gorgeous new restoration of The Wages of Fear (Clouzot, 1953). 4 dead-enders from an unnamed Central American town agree to drive a lethal cargo of nitroglycerin over treacherous mountain roads for a feckless oil company. What men are willing to do when life is cheap.
November 30, 2024 at 1:08 AM
Today’s Film Forum adventure: Gorgeous new restoration of The Wages of Fear (Clouzot, 1953). 4 dead-enders from an unnamed Central American town agree to drive a lethal cargo of nitroglycerin over treacherous mountain roads for a feckless oil company. What men are willing to do when life is cheap.
Getting ready for some John Schofield
November 28, 2024 at 12:05 AM
Getting ready for some John Schofield
Harlem, 11/27/24
November 27, 2024 at 5:25 PM
Harlem, 11/27/24
I dug La Cocina, Alonso Ruizpalacios’ hothouse drama about a frenetic Times Square restaurant, even if its muchness came to feel a bit much. It has some of the mad New York energy of early Spike Lee. A feast of tracking shots, and a very relevant take on the American dream and its discontents.
November 24, 2024 at 4:44 AM
I dug La Cocina, Alonso Ruizpalacios’ hothouse drama about a frenetic Times Square restaurant, even if its muchness came to feel a bit much. It has some of the mad New York energy of early Spike Lee. A feast of tracking shots, and a very relevant take on the American dream and its discontents.
Is a Starter Pack the same as a g-pack? Or have I just watched The Wire too much?
November 23, 2024 at 5:27 PM
Is a Starter Pack the same as a g-pack? Or have I just watched The Wire too much?