Movies

Leisure

In The Tragedy of Macbeth, the kingslayer isn’t the only one plotting

The Tragedy of Macbeth (2021) opens on a disorienting, bleak, and foggy landscape, tracing in the footsteps of a weary soldier. The first lines of dialogue anchor the audience in... Read more

By February 18, 2022

Leisure

West Side Story (2021) is an exceptional remake, despite problematic lead and box office failure

Content warning: This article mentions sexual assault. Steven Spielberg’s West Side Story (2021) provides its audience with one of the most delightful yet devastating movie-going experiences of the year, complete... Read more

By February 5, 2022

Leisure

Disney’s Encanto (2021) is a nuanced but incomplete take on family

We need to talk about Encanto (2021). Or, so says everyone on Twitter the last few weeks. Disney’s new animated film Encanto is a creative sensation that examines the complexities... Read more

By February 4, 2022

Leisure

Licorice Pizza is jubilant and juvenile

Soaked in summer sweat and 70’s nostalgia, Licorice Pizza marks the return of director Paul Thomas Anderson with his first film since 2017’s Phantom Thread. Set in “the Valley” of... Read more

By January 22, 2022

Leisure

Spider-Man: No Way Home is fan service executed brilliantly

With a groundbreaking debut of $600.8 million at the global box office, Marvel Studios’ highly anticipated Spider-Man: No Way Home hit theaters on December 17, quickly taking the world by... Read more

By January 7, 2022

Movies

Dune, despite countless strengths, might alienate newcomers to the franchise

As I prefer to do with most movies, I went into Dune (2021) with a blank slate. I didn’t know anything about the book or David Lynch’s 1984 attempt. In... Read more

By December 3, 2021

Leisure

Spencer can be one-note, but is claustrophobically effective

Diana Spencer, Princess of Wales (Kristen Stewart), is facing away from the camera, alone. Her back is arched gracefully, not a hair on her head is out of place, and... Read more

By November 29, 2021

Movies

Halloween Kills is Bloody, Angry, and to the Point 

Content warning: violence In a sea of lifeless reboots, Halloween (2018), directed by David Gordon Green, set itself apart by being a surprisingly tasteful revival of the 1978 Carpenter classic.... Read more

By October 27, 2021

Movies

Preview: DCEFF’s 30th anniversary promises a reflective space for discussion on film and the environment

This coming spring, the Environmental Film Festival in the Nation’s Capital (DCEFF) will celebrate its 30th anniversary. As the festival commemorates three decades of history, organizers have highlighted the ways... Read more

By October 23, 2021

Movies

Julia Ducournau’s bold body horror Titane crosses the finish line with the strength of its performances

Content warning: gore, body horror There are two sides to Titane, Julia Ducournau’s Palme d’Or-winning body horror film. One is a family drama about assimilation, about the struggles to fit... Read more

By October 21, 2021

Movies

The Eyes of Tammy Faye engages with reality, but not cruelty

Content warning: sexual assault  There is a lot to unpack about the life of much-lampooned televangelist Tammy Faye Messner (formerly Bakker). There’s the Christian worship broadcasting empire both built and... Read more

By October 9, 2021

Movies

Venom: Let There Be Couples’ Counseling

Have you ever wondered what an abusive relationship with a pile of alien goop would look like? Would you like to see said abusive couple make pancakes to Ella Fitzgerald... Read more

By October 4, 2021

Movies

“Does anybody have a map?” Dear Evan Hansen struggles to bring stage to screen

Content warning: Dear Evan Hansen discusses suicide Well, like it or not it is here: the long-awaited film adaptation of the smash-hit Broadway musical Dear Evan Hansen. Theater fans may... Read more

By September 30, 2021

Movies

Malignant‘s brashness and audacity make it a twist-filled delight

As the lights came up at the end of Malignant (2021), James Wan’s demented new horror extravaganza, my friends and I took the opportunity during the credits to howl with... Read more

By September 21, 2021

Movies

The Suicide Squad combines the absurdity of comics with heartwarming characters

To some degree, superhero stories are inherently silly. Whether from the basic concepts behind beloved heroes and villains or the general absurdity of scenarios presented in their weekly adventures, each... Read more

By September 13, 2021

Movies

Director Ben Sharrock on how the refugee crisis keeps asylum seekers in Limbo

On the secluded Scottish Uists, Syrian refugee Omar (Amir El-Masry) awaits an update for his pending asylum application. Each day, in an almost Sisyphean display, he traverses the windswept island... Read more

By May 13, 2021

Movies

Nomadland‘s story of wanderers hits close to home

A story of perpetual travelers and their time on the road seems like it should hold few lessons in a year most spent confined to their homes. Yet Chloé Zhao’s... Read more

By March 22, 2021

Movies

Minari studies the American dream through a Korean lens

“Minari is wonderful, minari is wonderful.” So goes the song that seven-year-old David (Alan S. Kim) sings as his grandmother, Soon-ja (Youn Yuh-jung), tends to the Korean herb from which... Read more

By February 19, 2021

Movies

Darius Marder makes hearing audiences the minority with Sound of Metal

Sound of Metal, the debut feature film from writer/director Darius Marder, is a sensory experience. It follows Ruben (Riz Ahmed), a drummer in a punk-metal duo with his long-term girlfriend... Read more

By January 8, 2021

Movies

Promising Young Woman tackles complicated topics while maintaining a sense of humor

Content warning: This film discusses issues surrounding sexual assault  The opening shot sequence to Emerald Fennell’s directorial debut Promising Young Woman (2020) says it all. As the names of cast... Read more

By December 31, 2020