THE MOTHER. Now that the Mother’s Day brunch dishes have been cleared, the bath bombs dissolved and hug coupons redeemed, let’s talk action movie motherhood. Wives and children are a civilizing force on action movie men, who put aside the weapons of war for family. Well, at least until someone kidnaps or murders said objects […]
The Miniplex
Posted inArts + Scene
Margaret and Goliath
It should be abundantly clear I don’t participate much in the cultural conversation, at least not in any meaningful, modern way. The Editor has gone so far as to say I’m too much a recluse to qualify as an internet troll. Yet, rumblings and fragments of messages still filter through the roof of my bunker […]
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Music Tonight: Friday, May 5, Cinco de Mayo
Having never traveled to Mexico, I’m not too hip to this holiday, in the sense of how widespread its celebration is outside of my native state of California. However, my general aim in this column is to learn and share. One thing I do know is that Makenu is a fantastic local cumbia band playing […]
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Beau is Afraid and a Little Funny
BEAU IS AFRAID. I’ve long harbored pet theory (borne of petty resentment) about only sons of single mothers. Having observed them at varying distances for the better part of a life, albeit with inescapable preconceptions, I would say this theory is something more than anecdotal; it is still very much the product of an addled […]
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Music Tonight: Friday, April 28
At the Miniplex tonight at 8 p.m., Black Humboldt presents Los Angeles spoken-word poet, rapper, music producer and activist Chris Siders, who will be performing a rap set alongside his opening act ANTIMATRR, before continuing the show with some work from the rest of his oeuvre. This is a developing show with more performers to […]
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The B List
Because this is an era defined in part by unearned nostalgia, we still frequently refer to a certain type of cinema as “B movies” or, if our geekiness tends to anachronism, “programmers.” This calls back to a time when the movie industry was more siloed but also more disparate, when studios diverted resources and talent […]
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Fresh Blood
THE POPE’S EXORCIST. Most — nearly all — exorcism movies come off as nasty, pale hokum, and for good reason. The Exorcist (1973) towers over all of them, the alpha and the omega, a procedural examination that presents itself without cynicism and without any seeming agenda. It does the essential work of believing its own […]
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Sneaker Game
AIR. I went on at some length recently about the work of Ben Affleck (Director Affleck), particularly Argo (2012), both as pertains to Tetris and to the shifting focus of culture in the context of mainstream cinema. The logic therein was most likely fallacious and founded on false premises, but I can at least say […]
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The True-ish Story of Tetris
TETRIS. When, after a trying workday, my wife set about retiring to another room with a book and a cat, as is her wont, I did not intend to deter her. But when I suggested I might watch a movie based on Tetris, she stopped abruptly. When I continued that it starred Taron Egerton, she […]
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Long Live Wick
JOHN WICK: CHAPTER 4. Having revealed that I had been to see this at one of the earliest available showings — with the Editor and an intermediary, but that’s another story — I was asked by a friend where I would rank it in the Wick canon. I replied without hesitation, that it is No. […]
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Indie Style Over Substance
As the only thing going on at the multiplex appears to be Shazam! Fury of the Gods, a sequel based on a property that I at first assumed was some kind of joke, I did not turn up. Based on DC’s general disregard for the movie and its widely reported dismal box office, I guess […]
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Thrown Back
SCREAM VI. The world’s infatuation with Scream (1996) kicked off just as I was entering a protracted contrarian period in my own cinema education. I hadn’t yet come to appreciate the craft and silliness of horror and teen movies were too easily enjoyable to possibly be of merit; I was insufferable. Because I live in […]