by Elizabeth Esten Clint Mansell’s original arrangements as well as repurposed pre-existing works are what truly create the best moments in Jon S. Baird’s adaptation of the Irvine Welsh novel. The two main goals of the music are to punctuate certain moments and contrast darker moments. Since the film is set around Christmas, Mansell uses … Continue reading
by Courtney RaveloThe 5th Wave is an adaptation of a 2013 young adult novel by the same title — the first in a trilogy by author Rick Yancey. The movie takes place in a post-apocalyptic era, with most of the story told in the first-person by a 16-year-old girl (you’ve seen this plot before, think … Continue reading
by Byron BixlerMiles Davis was a bad motherfucker — or at least that’s what the long-in-the-making biopic, Miles Ahead, wants us to initially believe. Written, produced, directed by and starring Don Cheadle in the central role, the film presents the jazz superstar as a swaggering gangster type. Self-involved, brazenly pistol-packing and unapologetically abrasive, Miles embodies … Continue reading
by Haley GoetzWe Are What We Are is not for the faint-of-heart or for people like me who don’t have that strong of a stomach. Before the viewing, I read that what I was about to see was a “cannibal horror film” and I was as prepared as I’d ever be. I went into the … Continue reading
Y Tu Mamá También (Cuarón, 2001) Roads are never just roads in road trip movies. They’re frontiers waiting to be passed, thresholds to be broken through. They are the physical manifestations of the journey ahead, whether that journey be for love, a new life, or self acceptance. In Alfonso Cuarón’s Y Tu Mamá También, the … Continue reading
by Byron Bixler & Jacqueline Borwick Coriolanus (Fiennes, 2011) For his directorial debut, Ralph Fiennes teamed up with screenwriter John Logan (who previously penned The Aviator, The Last Samurai and Gladiator) to take on the tragedy Coriolanus. Written by Shakespeare in his later years, the original play has often been neglected, placed in the shadows … Continue reading
by Kayla Hurowitz Taking inspiration from Shakespeare’s classic romance, Romeo and Juliet, West Side Story tells a tale of two lovers separated by their warring gangs — the Sharks and the Jets. Our two leads are Tony (Richard Beymer), a member of the Jets with a reputation for being loyal to his gang, and Maria … Continue reading
by Elizabeth EstenJoss Whedon. Hearing that name alone can make a group of nerds scream. Whedon has been working since the early ’90s on a variety of works, from television shows to films to projects made exclusively for the internet. While working on a little movie you might’ve heard of called The Avengers, Whedon and … Continue reading
by Justin MadoreThis film is devastating. That may seem like an obvious statement for a story about the Holocaust, but first-time director László Nemes has really upped the bar when it comes to the amount of emotion that can be drawn out of a person in less than two hours. He does this rather conversely … Continue reading
by Kai NealisWilliam Shakespeare’s Macbeth has been adapted for the screen nearly 25 times in one way or another since its first short, silent rendition in 1908 by James Stuart Blackton. Among the most notable adaptations are the Indian crime drama revamp Maqbool, set in modern day Mumbai from director Vishal Bhardwaj, Roman Polanski’s grandiose … Continue reading
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