Mark Dzula, Author at Bright Wall/Dark Room

As stars onscreen, Hepburn and Tracy were 100 proof, one of the most successful pairings in American cinema. Offscreen, they were Hollywood’s open secret: a clandestine couple that managed a long-running affair by being invisible in all the right places.

…But What Am I?

Mark Dzula·

Issue 117: On The Road

Whether lost in the pregnant pause of a phantom victory, swamped by the rush of bizarre sex appeal, or struggling with the desire to follow a new best friend but kept back by the ironclad claims of home, Pee-wee understands that dreams are the basis for strange journeys.

What Color Are Their Hands Now?

Mark Dzula·

Issue 114: Romantic Comedies

The Great Muppet Caper is ultimately a metatextual love poem to the magic of moviemaking and its raw, beating heart rests in a tenuous love triangle between Kermit, Miss Piggy, and Charles Grodin.

Back to the Suture: Transgressive Desire in Irma Vep

Mark Dzula·

Issue 111: Time Travel

Technically, Olivier Assayas' new Irma Vep is a remake about a remake of a film about a remake of Louis Feuillade’s epic 1915-16 silent serial, Les Vampires. Heartbreakingly, it’s about the consequences of trying to transcend reality by using filmmaking as a vehicle to touch the light.

Melodrama and The Happiness of the Katakuris

Mark Dzula·

Issue 108: Melodrama

The Happiness of the Katakuris shimmers with an almost Muppet-level cheer and earnestness, even as cadavers pile up and zombies skulk.

“When they were together, there was something electrifying about them”: On Adam’s Rib (1949)

…But What Am I?

What Color Are Their Hands Now?

Back to the Suture: Transgressive Desire in Irma Vep

Melodrama and The Happiness of the Katakuris