Movie Review: 12 Years a Slave
For as long as cinema has existed, there have been movies about human atrocity. It’s one of our favorite things to tell stories about. The optimist would say that these films help us to heal wounds, to work through difficult cultural memories by recreating them in a dramatized context. The pessimist would say that these … Read more
Movie Review: Thor: The Dark World
When I saw Kenneth Branagh’s Thor a few years back, I was confused. That isn’t to say I didn’t understand the movie, and I wouldn’t say it wasn’t badly made – I just had no opinion on its content. Perhaps it was the thin character development and gaping plot holes. Maybe it was the hokey … Read more
Op-Ed: Let the Right One In Is Not Your Typical Horror Movie
Quiet and meditative. Romantic, stark and beautiful. Poignant. These are not the words one usually associates with the horror genre. And yet, the ostensibly horror-themed Låt den rätte komma in, or Let the Right One In, has been praised by the world over using these very descriptors. The film follows Oskar, a 12-year-old boy who … Read more
Movie Review: Rush (Guest Post)
Rush. A short title. Onomatopoetic, monosyllabic. It doesn’t suggest a specific time, place or personality. It simply evokes a feeling. And at its strongest, Ron Howard’s latest film is just that: an uncomplicated expression of raw emotion. That’s not to say Howard doesn’t do a good job with the rest of the storytelling. Howard and … Read more
Movie Review: Gravity
A woman, short-haired and weightless, folds her body up in relief. Light pours in through a nearby window, and as she floats gently in the sunlight, at once the image of a fetus in utero is evoked. The frame lingers here. She recovers her breath and then, her energy restored, she swims through the air. … Read more
Op-Ed: On the War Between Movies and TV for the Soul of Horror
Few things have aided the rise of horror on television more than the decline of horror at the movies. There is a rich history of great horror at the movies. Consider the early Universal monster flicks of the 30s and Alfred Hitchcock’s legendary, contemplative re-imagining of the thriller sub-genre. Think about the classic slasher films in … Read more
Movie Review: Enough Said
It is sobering to know that this is one of the last times we’ll see James Gandolfini’s big, friendly face in theaters. From meteoric rise in the public consciousness with the HBO series The Sopranos to smaller roles in films like Zero Dark Thirty and The Incredible Burt Wonderstone, he never missed a beat, bringing even … Read more
Movie Review: Austenland (Guest Post)
Austenland is sort of the latest adaptation of Jane Austen’s Pride and Prejudice. I say “sort of” because it’s actually based on Shannon Hale’s novel Austenland, which was inspired by the 1995 film version of Pride and Prejudice, which was itself adapted from Austen’s actual novel. After being dragged through a book, a movie, another book, … Read more
Movie Review: The Hunt
What would you do if a child erroneously accused you of abuse? Nobody should have to answer a question like this. Unfortunately Lucas (Mads Mikkelsen), the kindhearted protagonist in Thomas Vinterberg’s The Hunt, finds himself in this very situation. Following a direct accusation from a young girl named Klara (Annika Wedderkopp) in his kindergarten class, … Read more
Movie Review: Blackfish
Filmmakers have long understood that animals garner more sympathy than humans. In a strange phenomenon of mass desensitization, the injury or death of a fellow Homo sapien just doesn’t have as much of an impact on moviegoers. Bucking that trend, Blackfish invests emotional collateral in both its human and animal subjects. In doing so, it becomes a … Read more
