by Erica NoboaThe “Merc with a Mouth” has finally hit the big screen, and boy, does he deliver! Filled with amusing one-liners, gory action, and a ton of fan service for comic-book fans, Deadpool is hard not to enjoy. The film has already become one of the highest-grossing R-rated movies in history, and the sequel … Continue reading
Category Archives: Contemporary Review
Hail, Caesar!
by Elizabeth EstenWhether it’s the story of a lazy slacker trying to get a new rug, a young woman hunting down the man who killed her father or an artist just trying to become the next great singer, the Coen brothers have always shined when it comes to their storytelling. As a long time fan … Continue reading
The Revenant
by Justin MadoreThe Revenant has been the talk of cinephiles everywhere for quite awhile now. Originally in development by Oldboy director Park Chan-wook with Samuel L. Jackson set to star, the film has gone through quite a few changes over the course of about a decade and a half. It wasn’t until the rising star … Continue reading
The Danish Girl
by Courtney RaveloThe Danish Girl is about the first transgender woman to go through reconstructive surgery. Last year’s Oscar-winner, Eddie Redmayne, plays the title role of Einar/Lili Wegener and breakout star, and Alicia Vikander portrays his wife, Gerda. The film comes to heavily depend on these two actors’ performances. It starts out at an art … Continue reading
Youth
by Max SchwarzMany films touch on the themes of life and death, each in their own way. Whether we’re watching McMurphy’s rebellious hunt for action in a suffocating hospital ward (One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest) or McCandless’s call of spirituality and freedom to the woods (Into the Wild), movies show life’s adventures, meaning, and … Continue reading
45 Years
by Byron BixlerSo fragile is that precious thing called love. The memories, the fragrances, the images that linger; all dissolved in a moment of doubt and the acknowledgement of profound delusions. In his previous film, Weekend, Andrew Haigh found emotional authenticity in a blossoming romance between two men. It was young love – spontaneous, raw … Continue reading
Anomalisa
by Mac GugertyCharlie Kaufman’s breakthrough 1999 film, Being John Malkovich, opens with a puppet show. John Cusack’s Craig, a lonely, socially inept puppeteer, performs an interpretive dance with a six-inch representation of himself. The puppet begins its dance standing at a small table, seemingly lost in thought. It catches its own reflection in a mirror, … Continue reading
The Boy
by Joshua WiederIf any doubt remained that the January doldrums has come round once more for us movie junkies, this release removed it. From director William Brent Bell (The Devil Inside), The Boy is really nothing short of insulting. By the end of the film’s only 97-minute runtime, the only relief from the tedious plot … Continue reading
13 Hours: The Secret Soldiers of Benghazi
by Justin MadoreWell, it’s January again, so I’m not sure why I expected anything walking into 13 Hours: The Secret Soldiers of Benghazi. Admittedly, the fact that it’s being praised as one of the best films of director Michael Bay’s career piqued my interest, with said praise equating it as some sort of renaissance for … Continue reading
The Forest
by Haley GoetzWhen the most ominous word in a film is “basement,” it becomes apparent that some rather large narrative flaws exist. In Jason Zada’s horror/thriller, The Forest, nothing is actually scary, save for a few cracking twigs and blank stares. The film’s story is grounded around Sara Price, an American woman who comes to … Continue reading