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 last decade failing to live up to it. But now their time has come. In…
From Obama: 2016 to Argo, the movies of 2012 have been particularly heavy on political content, and naturally some pundits have wondered if a film can influence an election. It seems clear that many in Hollywood think it could – and they want nothing to do with it. Three political films originally scheduled to hit…
This morning The Atlantic published an article of mine as part of their online content. The subject is one of grave importance to every concerned citizen of this nation: the potential political careers of Ben Affleck and Matt Damon. I had a great time analyzing their political statements and, more importantly, the subtextual political elements…
“Argo” comes along at the perfect time – depending on what your interests are. The film, which opens with a tense sequence recreating the storming of the U.S. embassy in Tehran by Iranian militants, is timely due to the similarities between the events it depicts and similar events on our actual world stage. Both the…
Considering how deeply “Seven Psychopaths” embraces its meta-ness, it only makes sense to begin this review by comparing it to other movies. Of course, it follows a trend begun by “Pulp Fiction” of violent, funny movies that comment on their own bloodshed. Specifically, it addresses the cyclical nature of violence and consequences – much like…
This week, the AV Club rolled out its list of the best 50 movies of the 1990s. As with any list of this kind, there is much room for debate. It is not a definitive list – as if such a thing exists. It was compiled through a blind ballot vote of the site’s film-writing…
A fascinating experiment in democracy is going on in Hollywood right now, and it has nothing to do with government. From the Los Angeles Times: The mercurial branch has been trying to refine its voting process for the Academy Awards for years. In its latest iteration, announced in January, the branch instituted two new policies:…
“Butter” was shot several years ago, but the film’s distributors waited until this election season to release it. It was a seemingly shrewd choice – the film, which portrays a fierce competition among candidates for the Iowa state butter-carving championship, functions as a political allegory, complete with sex scandals, race baiting, and dirty tricks. But…
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