Movies

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

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

Movies

The Climb: The tragic love story between two friends

In 2017, two best friends, Michael Angelo Covino and Kyle Marvin released their short film, The Climb, to the masses at Sundance Film Festival. The 8-minute film, shot in one... Read more

By November 23, 2020

Leisure

The Welcome to the Blumhouse campaign serves as little more than a collection of entertaining and diverse but unremarkable horror films

If you like tacky horror movies, Amazon Prime is the site to stream this Halloween. Its set of films from the horror collection Welcome to the Blumhouse (2020) went live... Read more

By October 30, 2020

Movies

Kajillionaire is weird in the best way

Kajllionaire (2020) is first and foremost a weird movie. Most elements of the film—from the quirky characters paranoid of every rumble or quake to the puzzling visuals of pink foam... Read more

By October 27, 2020

Leisure

Amidst a Black horror renaissance, Antebellum is a blunder

(CW: spoilers, mentions of racial violence and sexual assault) Antebellum (2020) begins with an undeniably stylistic long take. The camera follows a few soldiers, winding along the grounds of a... Read more

By October 26, 2020

Movies

All In: The Fight for Democracy makes its message clear—Young people, vote

In the 2018 Georgia gubernatorial race, former Georgia House of Representatives member Stacey Abrams could have become the first Black female governor in American history. While the election ended in... Read more

By October 24, 2020

Movies

Tenet is hard to see, and even harder to review

Movies are back! Well, they are according to this instantly iconic clip of Tom Cruise going to the theater to see Christopher Nolan’s newest film, Tenet (2020). The bizarre video... Read more

By September 18, 2020