I'm not here to ask whether or not Some Like It Hot holds up. Of course it holds up! For crying out loud, what a bad question.
PositionSenior Editor
JoinedMay 27, 2017
Articles56
Fran Hoepfner is a Senior Editor at Bright Wall/Dark Room and has been contributing to the magazine since 2013. She recently completed her MFA in fiction at Rutgers in Newark, and launched Fran Magazine, in early 2022.
On stars, myths, violence, selective nostalgia, and Slow West.
Maggie Smith won the first of her two Academy Awards for her titular role in The Prime of Miss Jean Brodie, and it’s easy to see why the girls in the film worship her—I worship her, too.
"It's just life. That takes a tremendous amount of bravery and Kelly has that as a filmmaker."
In late 2014, I walked into a movie theater at 9 in the morning to watch Force Majeure at a film festival in Belgium, running on a combination of jetleg and a strong Americano. The movie’s subtitles were in French only, and mon français est bon mais pas super. Still, I sat enrapt, dumbfounded and aghast.
Fran Hoepfner on The Irishman, Uncut Gems, Marriage Story, Portrait of a Lady on Fire, Parasite, First Cow, and other highlights (and not so highlights) from the New York Film Festival.
In The Birdcage, jokes aren't simply clever bits of wordplay, but rather a continual give and take. This is the May touch—no one ever fully wins an argument; instead, it’s a constant battle for the last word.
The Warriors is about living with—through, during—the night, a lesson we all learn as kids, and carry with us as we sleep. It’s not so much about the fear of what’s behind, but about running as fast as possible toward what’s on the other side.
Let us thirst again, we beg. It’s one of the few things we have left.
For as long as I can remember, my mom has referred to Pulp Fiction as the most violent film she had ever seen in her life, and I wanted to know why.
What makes Mission: Impossible - Fallout and Free Solo what they are is not death. It’s the spectatorship of death., watching those around a person come to terms with what we all know is out there.
Seeing movies is a gift, and I can’t wait to go back next year.
