Author

Lance Li

Lance Li is a garlic pepper addict, an occasional photographer and writer of political prose, and an Economics student at University of Wisconsin–Madison. He can be searched on Letterboxd under “RedMoonRising,” and he’s written a few pieces on films for FrameRated.co.uk, The Daily Cardinal, and Madison Journal of Literary Criticism.

Lance's Latest Articles

Production photo from the Western "Stagecoach" shows three characters clutching each other's hands and arms. An older man with a moustache and dark cowboy hat stands at the left; a younger, clean-shaven man with a lighter cowboy hat stands taller in the center; and a shorter woman with curly hair stands to the right. They all look off into the distance to the left with neutral expressions.
Lea Jacobs sheds new light on an old master in “John Ford At Work”
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March 30, 2026

The UW Professor Emeritus' new book on the storied American director coincides with a five-film UW Cinematheque series this spring.

Angled photo at a medium shot of five people seated at a table in a theater lobby. Four people sit on the far side, while one person sits closest to the camera on the other side. They are all absorbed in the news-printed 2026 Wisconsin Film Festival guides on the table. The table contains numerous beverage glasses, a couple plates of food, and a small table lamp towards the center.
Continuity and expressive experimentation in the 2026 Wisconsin Film Festival
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Wisconsin Film Festival
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March 11, 2026

Eight writers share their initial insights on the eight-day extravaganza, April 9 through 16, across UW campus and Madison.

Simple rectangular image collage of four film stills. At the top left, teenager Willa (Chase Infiniti) practices shooting an assault rifle in an open field in "One Battle After Another." At the top right, thirtysomething parent J.B. Mooney (Josh O'Connor) scopes out the Framingham Art Museum before he plans a robbery in "The Mastermind." At the bottom left, teenager Kyle (Jackson Sluiter) skates through the suburbs of Calgary in Alberta, Canada. At the bottom right, frazzled mother Linda (Rose Byrne) stops for a moment at her motel after visiting the convenience store in "If I Had Legs I'd Kick You."
One movie meditation after another: toiling through 2025
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January 21, 2026

Nine writers processed these trying times through cinema, at the theaters and at home.

In a spacious and opulent house, two sisters stand at a medium shot in a sunlit room and look out to the right (through an unseen window). Both women have dark brown hair that is pulled back. They also both wear comfortable, long-sleeve clothing.
Evaluating tenderness and depth of family dynamics in “Sentimental Value”
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December 10, 2025

Grant Phipps and Lance Li argue in favor of and against the artistic framework of Joachim Trier's latest psychological family drama.

A cropped still from the film "One Battle After Another" shows a disheveled middle-aged man standing on an open desert road. He wears a plaid-patterned bathrobe over a plain grey shirt and black pants. He holds a rifle up with his right arm and holds out a small black device in his left. The man peers into the distance with a concerned expression. A sports car that he's driven is parked in the middle of the road with the driver's side door open.
“One Battle After Another” reclaims hope in its cluttered, unpretentious, momentous rhythms
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October 9, 2025

Paul Thomas Anderson's latest epic satire is currently screening at all theaters in the Madison area.