Earlier this week, Jason Bailey of Flavorwire published a piece documenting the drop in speaking roles for women in successful Hollywood movies. He makes an important point: despite the attention paid to movies like Bridesmaids and The Hunger Games, the … Continue reading
Critics seem to be of mostly one mind about Stoker, the English-language debut of famed Korean director Chan-Wook Park. They praise the technical prowess of Park – after all, he’s the kind of revered foreign director that cinephiles are not … Continue reading
Yesterday, on the 10th anniversary of the Iraq War, Daniel D’Addario at Salon noted that movies about the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan have not exactly broken the box office. Comparing it to previous eras of bloodshed, he wrote that … Continue reading
Earlier this week, The New Republic published a scathing and moralistic piece by Thomas Hackett about the Oscar-nominated Beasts of the Southern Wild. While he begrudgingly praises the film’s “excitement for the surprising places artful imagery and editing can take … Continue reading
The late Gene Siskel once described the job of being a film critic as “covering the national dream beat.” What he meant is that the movies document our collective unconscious. We may go to the movies to escape, but because … Continue reading
Is actress Ashley Judd running for Senate? Rumors are spreading across the Beltway that she may challenge Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell in 2014. When asked about a potential run, Judd had this to say: “I cherish Kentucky, heart and … Continue reading
Skyfall opens, as do all James Bond films, with an action sequence. Bond chases a villain through a Turkish marketplace, then onto a train, then onto the top of that train, and although the sequence is gripping and masterfully put … Continue reading
Thirteen years ago, The Matrix was released, and its themes of oppression and revolution connected deeply with critics and audiences alike. The filmmakers – siblings Andy and Lana Wachowski – were similarly oppressed by its success and have spent the … Continue reading
