THE HARDER THEY FALL. The Western, uniquely American in that it distills and blends far-flung influences into something distinctly flavored by its struggles and settings, is a most stubborn genre. It refuses to die but, by and large, it also refuses to adapt or evolve. There has been potential, since the earliest days, for Western […]
Broadway Cinema
Posted inArts + Scene
Going Where the Fun Is
ANTLERS. If it feels like this movie has been a long time coming, you are not alone. When an actual release date appeared on the calendar, I assumed my eyes deceived me, believing it came out months, if not years ago. This is partially down to COVID fatigue, as are so many of my recent […]
Posted inArts + Scene
Favorite Spooky Movies that Still Have Bite
Halloween is just days away and if you’re like me, you’re wondering how you’ll pass the evening this year — ears tuned to the front door, bowl of semi-edible candy at the ready, childlike hopes that finally this year more than four children will venture into the dystopian no-man’s-land that lies beyond Lundbar Hills. As […]
Posted inArts + Scene
Unfair
THE STARLING. Fans of Melissa McCarthy will know that she does both comedy and drama. The Starling (on Netflix) is the latter, so if you were expecting to see her do things along the lines of talking through a mouthful of food, belly-flopping or adopting six dogs all at once, you’ll want to check out […]
Posted inArts + Scene
Culture
THERE’S SOMEONE INSIDE YOUR HOUSE. Is a slasher movie ever just a slasher movie? Probably not. Go back and watch a few of the genre’s prototypes from the ’70s and ’80s, and you’ll find — more easily with the distance afforded by time — some recurring themes and popular mores fairly leaping from their stories […]
Posted inArts + Scene
Back to the Source
THE GUILTY. I’ve long bridled at Hollywood remakes (I suppose we’re calling them reboots now) of recent international movies. For one, the practice speaks to the corporatized murder of imagination that has taken hold in the American cinema industry, whereby original screenplays are, by are large, passed over in favor of pre-existing properties. Secondly, it […]
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Impeachment’s Time Capsule
AMERICAN CRIME STORY: IMPEACHMENT. Just a few years can make one hell of a difference and 23 years can be like a lifetime — roughly the length of a generation. And from the 1998-1999 scandal-ridden impeachment of President Bill Clinton, it sure feels like a vast gulf from there to the present day. Airing on […]
Posted inArts + Scene
Does This Still Matter?
SCENES FROM A MARRIAGE. I think a lot about the influence of historical context on works of art. Strip away the social and political events of the time and does a painting, a book, a play, a punk rock bank, a movie hold up in that vacuum? What art remains relevant, meaningful, a source of […]
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A Sharp Eye
MALIGNANT. I was a vocal detractor of James Wan before I knew his name, long before I would ever see a single frame of one of his movies. Saw (2004), his collaboration with Leigh Whannell that would spawn untold sequels, let alone copies, was the starting point of one of the most successful careers in […]
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Worth’s Old Math in a Changed World
WORTH. In 2001, New York City might as well have been 1 million miles away from me. In rural Southeastern Washington, that particular September morning was gorgeous, the changing season having begun to dispel the oppressive heat. I was on my way to class, oblivious as usual, and stopped at the student union, for what […]
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The Forest for the Happy Little Trees
“Bob Ross, 52, Dies; Was Painter on TV.” That was the caption in the July 13, 1995 New York Times obituary section. No headline, no picture. Just a blurb. Yes, that Bob Ross. The white guy with the Afro and the soft voice who painted landscapes inconceivably quickly and beautifully for the PBS show The […]
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Pop-Op Perfection?
ANNETTE. Received rapturously at the Cannes Film Festival — the standing ovation lasted long enough for Adam Driver to smoke a cigarette — this might fairly be interpreted as the long-overdue arrival of the Brothers Mael. That statement, of course, cannot be made, at least by me, without a few disclaimers/asterisks. First, and perhaps most […]