In 1988, N.W.A released the album “Straight Outta Compton.” The album’s titular first track opened with the spoken line “You are now about to witness the strength of street knowledge” and ended with the bold full stop, “Damn that sh*t was dope!” In the four minutes in between, NWA redefined more than just hip hop […]
The Amazing Spider-Man 2
Time is unstoppable. That much is clear in Marc Webb’s second outing with everyone’s favorite wall-crawler. The director opens this film with a close up on the gears of a watch, focusing on time slipping second by second. His use of foreshadowing is blatant, especially if you know a thing or two about a certain […]
The Happening: Shyamalan’s Magnum Opus
M. Night Shyamalan has seen his share of derision over the past decade. His movies have oscillated between the abominable The Sixth Sense to the pop culture-defining The Last Airbender. He has become the butt of mean-spirited jokes and dismissive condescension. But in 2008, Shyamalan did something nobody expected. Coming off of the Paul Giamatti vehicle Lady […]
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 […]
