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(04/11/18 4:00am)
The city of Megasaki, with its monumental neon skyscrapers crowding the evening sky, looms ominously over a small village of tiled-roof homes and merchant houses. This dichotomy of technology over tradition reappears in many forms over the course of “Isle of Dogs,” the latest movie from Wes Anderson (“The Grand Budapest Hotel,” “Moonrise Kingdom”). Anderson’s movies often romanticize the past in simple ways, emphasizing the nostalgic value in a record player or flying a kite.
(04/04/18 4:28am)
The world is bleak, racked by economic disparity. More and more Americans live in poverty while the wealthy continue to propagate the myth that hard work will pull the impoverished out of all their hardships. With an oppressive world weighing on everyone’s backs, Americans retreat into their technology, inhabiting virtual worlds where they can be whomever or whatever they want, whenever they want. This escapism has become obsession, as Americans from all walks of life become addicted to their online presence.
(02/14/18 5:05am)
Dear Netflix,
(01/24/18 5:00am)
“Call Me by Your Name,” a 132-minute, single-thread romantic drama between two young men in Northern Italy, from director Luca Guadagnino (“I Am Love,” “A Bigger Splash”), may be the most gorgeous and heartfelt movie of 2017. In a year dominated by an overwhelming sense of dread and hatred, “Call Me by Your Name” exudes the sensations of hope and love for over two hours, never coming off as hokey or self-righteous. In an intricate yet simple story, with 1983 Northern Italy as a backdrop, Timothée Chalamet plays Elio, an American-Italian 17-year-old living with his family in their summer home. Elio meets Oliver (Armie Hammer), a handsome American graduate student, after he comes to work for Elio’s father, Mr. Perlman (Michael Stuhlbarg), a professor of archaeology. At first, Mr. and Mrs. Perlman (Amira Casar) find fault with Oliver’s personality (including his farewell of choice, a blasé “Later”), but Elio, a more withdrawn and cautious soul, sees something comforting and relaxing in Oliver’s carefree attitude.
(01/19/18 5:00am)
No matter how hard I try to shut it out, the Academy keeps coming back into my life. Last year’s Oscars were immortalized by a headline — “Oscars Blunder: Best Picture award given to ‘Moonlight’ after ‘La La Land’ mixup” — that seemed suspiciously similar to another award show gaffe from a year earlier. This headline, through a variety of phrasings, instantly appeared on my phone’s lock screen in a flurry of news app notifications minutes after the mistake. My phone vibrated so much that I worried a nuclear missile was heading for the United States. To my dismay, my attention was again held captive by the Academy. For days, social media was flooded with articles about the historic upset in which “Moonlight” bested “La La Land,” with some signaling that the Academy, or perhaps even the film industry altogether, may be taking steps in a more progressive direction.
(01/03/18 5:00am)
As a tie-in with its latest feature-length film, Netflix released a promotional “Bright”-themed video fireplace. What an accurate depiction of this movie: an oil drum full of burning refuse.
(12/27/17 5:00am)
So much happens in “The Last Jedi” that it becomes difficult to remember exactly what the main conflict should be. The latest entry in the “Star Wars” franchise since the intellectual property was acquired by Disney back in 2012, “The Last Jedi” is the series’s third film released in as many years, and the second of the “sequel trilogy” christened by J.J. Abrams’s “The Force Awakens” in 2015. This time, director and writer Rian Johnson (“Brick,” “Looper,” a couple “Breaking Bad” episodes) gives his interpretation of where the franchise could expand. Whereas “The Force Awakens” was a constantly moving, action-packed journey through the galaxy, “The Last Jedi” attempts to tell a more meditative and deliberate story, along with decent helpings of lasers and explosions. Unfortunately, Johnson can’t seem to decide which of the four plot lines he’s more interested in, resulting in an intercut, bloated, two-and-a-half-hour exercise in keeping up with disparate narratives.
(11/29/17 5:00am)
"Rightly to be great / Is not to stir without great argument, / But greatly to find quarrel in a straw / When honour's at the stake.” - William Shakespeare, “Hamlet,” Act IV, Scene 4
(11/15/17 5:00am)
Kenneth Branagh’s new adaptation of “Murder on the Orient Express” is okay. In other words, it’s fine. It’s passable. The movie is so pleasantly alright that it’s actually pretty difficult to come up with anything to say about it. Decades ago, this might not have been an issue. “Middle-market” movies like “Orient Express,” boasting a medium-sized budget, the backing of a big studio and a couple recognizable stars, used to be the backbone of the movie industry. Theoretically, this makes sense: If a studio puts out a larger number of semi-acclaimed, well-attended movies that translate to a modest profit, they could afford to take risks on a couple higher-budget blockbusters. Recent developments in Hollywood have tended toward an over-saturation of big-budget, star-studded “event movies,” or artsy, critically acclaimed indie gems. In a world where that “Certified Fresh” rating means the life or death of a movie, it’s riskier than ever to release an “okay” movie.
(11/08/17 5:00am)
Can I ask you something, dear reader? Do you think the concept of the Incredible Hulk sitting in a hot tub is truly hilarious? Do you think jokes about the Shake Weight are still funny today? Would watching Thor (the eternally handsome Chris Hemsworth) get electrocuted amuse you? I’ll give you that one. There’s something funny about the God of Thunder wearing a shock collar, but the original joke loses its impact around the sixth time he’s reduced to convulsing on the floor. Don’t get me wrong, hilarious moments in “Thor: Ragnarok” exist. The latest entry in the Marvel Studios mega-franchise has been billing itself as the “funny” Marvel movie, and it doesn’t hesitate to make the “comedy” apparent. Before the title card is even shown, “Ragnarok” shoves a handful of “jokes” down the viewers’ throats. Yes, like its predecessors “Ant-Man,” “Guardians of the Galaxy” and “Deadpool,” this superhero movie leans heavily on “humor.”
(11/01/17 4:00am)
What could I possibly say about “The Room” that hasn’t been said before? The 2003 “disasterpiece” has cemented its handprints on the Internet Walk of Fame. Beautifully awkward scenes like Johnny’s rooftop entrance or the most dialogue-efficient flower purchase in history are bizarre enough out of context to be unintentionally captivating. Monthly interactive screenings of “The Room” across the country amass hundreds of attendees, giddy to hurl both insults and plastic spoons at the theater screen. It wasn’t always this way; the movie was panned commercially and critically, leaving theaters after earning back a measly $1,800 at the box office. How did an unremarkable, amateur romantic drama accidentally become a beloved, campy cult comedy? The fascination surrounding “The Room” tells us a lot about film culture and how we as spectators appraise films.
