Our Flag Means Death Delivers Absurdity and Romance on the High Seas
The best show of the year is an LGBTQ+ pirate rom-com. Our Flag Means Death tells the story of real-life pirate Stede Bonnet, the 18th-century aristocrat who gave up his luxurious life for an adventure on the seas. He earned the name “The Gentleman Pirate'' for his peculiar approach to piracy, building his ship the Revenge rather than seizing one by mutiny and paying his crew in wages.
The Dropout, Inventing Anna, and the Fascination with Female Fraudsters
Audiences have soaked up The Dropout and Inventing Anna because of the piece inside of them that craves seeing a woman in a position of power. I can’t blame them; I love seeing it too. But does our desire to see strong, independent women erase any shred of a moral compass that tells us when a woman’s actions are wrong?
Eat or Be Eaten: Fresh Takes on the Horrors of Dating
Fresh has all the ingredients to be the perfect modern thriller. It’s a black comedy about the horrors of modern dating starring Daisy Edgar-Jones and Sebastian Stan. There are plenty of mundane horrors to be had in the dating world, but Fresh ups the stakes and throws a cannibal into the dating pool.
Fast or Furious? Why Not Both? A Definitive Ranking of the Fast and Furious Movies
I want to preface this by saying that I do indeed know that the Fast and Furious franchise is incredibly ridiculous. The stunts and actions performed would never be able to exist in real life, simply because of the presence of gravity and the fragility of the human body. (I’m looking at you, fight scene between the Rock and Jason Statham). The simple fact that none of the actors have ever gotten a speeding ticket is incredulous by itself. However, that said, the franchise is one of my favorites in Hollywood.
The Satisfaction of Barry Lyndon
I always think of Stanley Kubrick’s Barry Lyndon as the Kubrick movie everyone forgot. While it has all the signature trademarks of a Kubrick classic, from the emotional detachment that’s so cold it’s cool, to the innovative cinematic techniques, extreme points of tension and beautiful photography, it’s often eclipsed by his films that came before and after it.
The Batman: Familiar Characters with New Faces
One may be asking, why do we need another Batman movie if The Nolan Trilogy, especially The Dark Knight, still holds up? Well, we certainly did not need this movie, but I, for one, am thankful that we got it! Matt Reeves’ The Batman is a dark, suspenseful reimagining of the classic Batman storyline that features new interpretations of characters like Catwoman (Zoë Kravitz), The Penguin (Colin Farell), and The Riddler (Paul Dano).
Moviegoer Picks: TV Shows To Get You Through The Rest Of The Semester
It’s that time of the semester when everyone’s heads are buried in their books and hearts are buried in misery. But don’t despair! Here are The Moviegoer’s TV show suggestions to get you through the end of semester grind.
Pixar’s Turning Red: The Antidote Against Everything That’s Wrong In Hollywood
When I began learning more about the film industry in high school, I was surprised to learn that an artistic field–something I assumed would be stereotypically associated with women–was in fact dominated by white men. I remember reading about the hurdles that female screenwriters, directors, and producers faced to be given seats at the table, and being shocked that they had to overcome so much just to have their voices heard.
Menace In The Air: The Opening of 'Once Upon A Time In The West'
The dust blows forward and the dust blows back, but menace is in the air. Three gunslingers arrive at Cattle Corner, a train station in the middle of the Old West, hours from civilization in either direction, and they mean business. Their business is killing, and business is good.
Marry Me: When Even Being a World-Famous Popstar Isn’t Enough
Glitzy and glamorous romantic comedies are nothing new; we have repeatedly discussed in lecture how urban settings and upper class characters are a mainstay of the genre. Romantic comedies that feature working women have also become increasingly common since the shift of labor that occurred in the postwar era. But how often have we seen a rom com about a female international music sensation?
Scream 2022: What’s a “Re-quel”?
Only the Scream franchise would introduce the word “re-quel” – a term so cinematically dense – into its already meta screenplay and premise. I expect nothing less from a series that has psycho-analyzed the totality of the horror genre while simultaneously creating its own expansive, trope-filled storyline. And in an age of tired reboots and sequels of once original and groundbreaking cinema, you would think that the new Scream would be equally as tired, especially with the franchise being in the state it was in prior to this installment. But 2022’s Scream proudly proclaims that this reboot is exactly what the franchise needed.
“We Screwed Every Night. The Forecast Was For Storms.” (Betty Blue)
I always forget how much I love Jean-Jacques Beineix’s 1986 Betty Blue. A perennial eighties student favorite, and often a gateway drug into modern French cinema, it has all the hallmarks of a movie which stays with you long after the credits roll. In my case, this has been decades, but I only recently watched it again after a very long hiatus. I still love it. Exquisite cinematography, the tempestuous, passionate, charged voltage of its two main characters, the haunting soundtrack, and best of all, just the wonderful original Philippe Djian storyline all combine perfectly into a tale of maddening, violent, deteriorating unraveling.
The Proud Family: Louder and Prouder — A Premiere for the Books!
I’ll begin my review with the major caveat that I rarely, if ever, watched the original The Proud Family on Disney Channel. I was certainly too young to watch the first run of the show (I’m a baby, I know), and if I caught any later reruns, it was simply while flipping through channels. With that said, it didn’t curb my excitement when I received an invite to the virtual premiere of the new Disney+ revival, The Proud Family: Louder and Prouder. After all, who wouldn’t be excited to go to the premiere of a reboot of one of the most well-loved animated shows on Disney Channel? The event promised the showing of not just one but two episodes, and additional perks beyond the episodic content.
A Magical Love in the Air: Harry Potter Returns to Hogwarts
I like to think I have a special connection with Harry Potter movies: I watched them aged 9 before reading the books, and still have vivid memories of attending the first-day shows of Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows Part 1 and Part 2. Watching the reunion not only made me more aware of that connection but also how so many others share that same bond. In many ways, Harry Potter has a unique fandom, born out of a pure childlike love for the wonders of magic and the simple yet powerful premise.
A Glance Behind the Curtain of the Underworld: A Conversation with the Cast of Hadestown
It’s Sweeny Todd meets Romeo and Juliet. It’s a fairy-tale, but how the Grimm Brothers originally imagined: a dark and gritty reimagination of an otherwise beautiful love story. A post-apocalyptic reinterpretation of a classic Greek tragedy is what comes to mind when I think about Hadestown. This grand musical tells the tale of not just one Greek myth, but two in a modern setting. It interweaves the story of Orpheus and Eurydice, two lovers destined to be drawn apart, and the story of Hades and Persephone, another pair of lovers with a complicated relationship.
Seeing and Saw: The Best Moviegoing Moments
Of all the movies you’ve ever seen, how many of them can you specifically remember? Not just when and where you saw them, but who you were with, maybe even where you were sitting and what you chose to eat. For me there’s a lot of nostalgia tied up with doing this. I remember my life changing as a four year old being taken to see Star Wars in 1977 by my dad, as a special afternoon treat away from the hospital where I was undergoing long-term treatment for a collapsed lung.
Reclaiming Her Narrative: Monica Lewinsky and the Politics of Impeachment
Instead of giving Clinton the spotlight, the story of Impeachment follows Monica Lewinsky (Beanie Feldstein) and her emotional turmoil as she became involved in the biggest presidential scandal of all time.
