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(09/24/18 12:00pm)
A recent action release, Peppermint centers around Riley North, a middle–class suburban mother who watches her husband and her daughter get killed in a drive–by. After the justice system fails to capture those who harmed her, she disappears for five years to train and comes back as a revenge–seeking vigilante. The movie is very reminiscent of the early 2000s, when Jennifer Garner was starring as a leading badass in terrible movies like Daredevil, Elektra, and Alias. But don’t worry, Peppermint is much worse.
(09/25/18 12:00pm)
It’s an age–old story—in its past couple seasons, the TV show you once loved seems to have lost its magic. What was once fresh and exciting has become a chore to watch, and you begin to wonder if you should even bother when the new season’s premiere rolls around. This attitude is ubiquitous when it comes to fans of the FX series American Horror Story. A preference for more recent iterations of the offbeat show is practically unheard of. So, upon hearing that this year’s American Horror Story: Apocalypse would reintroduce the characters and thematic elements of the show’s earlier installments, a little bud of hope sprung in me. Unfortunately, the premiere episode left me with little reassurance.
(09/19/18 3:29am)
This article is part of 34th Street's Philadelphia, Curated issue. Click here to see more of our favorite spots from all over the city.
(09/24/18 12:00pm)
The first season of American Vandal found tremendous success on a number of counts. Despite an unconventional premise, the mockumentary was well–received by audiences and critics. Following up a season focused on clearing the name of a “known dick drawer” in a high school vandalism scandal isn’t a particularly easy task, and potty humor doesn’t have a long shelf–life. However, in its second season, American Vandal swaps comedy for heart, and the result is another satisfying take on youth culture and the merciless dog–eat–dog world of high school.
(09/20/18 12:00pm)
With summer blockbuster season finally behind us, the fall months promise the release of some of the most anticipated (and most buzzworthy) films of the year, and the annual marker of this exciting time is the Toronto International Film Festival. Currently underway, TIFF tends to get a lot of attention for premiering the movies that will thereafter pick up steam, during the so–called “awards season,” which lasts roughly from September to March.
(09/18/18 8:45pm)
This year was the 100th anniversary of filmmaker Ingmar Bergman’s birth. In his life, he made dozens of films and earned a place as one of the most accomplished filmmakers of all time, and in his honor, the Lightbox Film Center at the International House is holding a month–long series entitled “Autumn Sonata: An Ingmar Bergman Centennial Retrospective,” screening many of his most famous and beloved works on Thursdays and weekends in September. So hurry in before the month ends.
(09/12/18 12:00pm)
Some Penn students arrive on campus with an image of what they’d like their future to be and a plan for how to get there; others hope that the college experience will give them some direction. For alumnus Zach Fox (C ’17) it was at the tender age of 12 that he knew he wanted to be a comedian—an aspiration that took him from Philadelphia to Los Angeles and back before finishing his sophomore year. Now he has a feature film making its Penn debut this month, his own production company (Fat Camp Films) and an upcoming project in collaboration with Instagram’s @fuckjerry.
(09/12/18 12:00pm)
If you’re a Penn student (or Philly resident) who harbors dreams of making your own movie masterpiece, what you might not realize is that you’re living in one of the best cities in the country to make it happen. Time and time again, that was the theme of “Film in Philly 101,” an event put on by the Philadelphia Film Society on September 5 that brought together a diverse group of Philly film creatives to discuss how to get started with film in the City of Brotherly Love. While we might not be known for being a film capital of the world, you don’t have to despair because you’re not in Hollywood—there are a multitude of resources for aspiring filmmakers in and around Philly. Whether you’ve been creating for years, or you’ve just decided you want to get started with pursuing a project, here are the best places to look for advice, inspiration, feedback, and mentorship—straight from the people who know the Philly film scene best.
(09/30/18 12:00pm)
'The Nun,' a horror prequel to The Conjuring 2, opens with a suicide which I think perfectly sums up this movie: overkill. A nun ties a noose around her neck and then jumps out the window of the abbey.
(09/13/18 11:00am)
With its return to TV this week, It’s Always Sunny in Philadelphia starts its 13th season and further cements its place as one of the longest running sitcoms in television history. The run would be impressive for a beloved old–school family comedy, or even a modern network hit, but for It's Always Sunny—FX’s abnormally profane and occasionally disgusting saga of five deplorable Philadelphians who run a bar and cause trouble all over the greater Philadelphia area—it is a little bit insane. Not only has It's Always Sunny made it this far, it’s still damn good, with guest appearances coming up this season from stars like Mindy Kaling, an incredibly devoted fan base that has been stressing for months over whether or not Dennis (Glenn Howerton) will be back this season, and unprecedented ratings in preceding episodes to boot.
(09/10/18 12:00pm)
Paying only $10 a month for access to a movie screening every day is a deal that sounds too good to be true. Yet, in August of 2017, the subscription company MoviePass was able to make this film lovers’ dream a reality, and attracted both a surge of subscribers and skepticism. In a world where standard movie tickets can cost as much as $15, MoviePass allowed its users to watch dozens of films per month at a fraction of the upfront cost. The company offered deals of this kind for several years prior, but at a higher price point. When the subscription price dropped to a seemingly miraculous $9.95 a month, a wave of new subscribers jumped on it, with many not realizing that it would only last so long.
(09/05/18 12:00pm)
What are two rising Penn seniors to do during their last summer as college students? If you’re Kyle Rosenbluth (E ‘19) and Daniel Fradin (C ‘19), you fly to the Arctic Circle with recording and production gear in tow, and you make a movie. When I sat down with the pair of housemates, friends, and newly minted partners in filmmaking, they recounted their decision to book a one way plane ticket to northern Canada and shoot a documentary about climate change in a remote town casually, with smiles on their faces.
(09/03/18 6:37pm)
To All the Boys I’ve Loved Before, the buzzy Netflix film released in summer 2018, was one of the sweetest movies I’ve ever seen. It feels like this past year has been filled with movies that are supposed to hit at a deeper purpose, or a bigger picture, but this romance was refreshing and light–hearted in the sweetest way.
(08/31/18 12:00pm)
Insatiable, the latest original show that Netflix has regrettably poured money into and is now throwing at all of us each time we open up our loading screens, is painfully bad. It’s billed as a comedy but feels like the writers were forced to watch YouTube tutorials on how to be funny and then locked in a writer’s room with no food and ten years’ worth of Cosmo magazines. I am an avid, guilty watcher of reality shows and other garbage TV, but Insatiable is different—it is the rare show that manages to be trashy without even being slightly enjoyable to watch.
(08/29/18 12:56am)
Despite Hollywood ignoring minority contributions to film and, in some cases, actively creating hostile environments to creatives of color, films with racially diverse casts are crushing it right now. The success of recent films like Black Panther, Crazy Rich Asians, and Sorry to Bother You proves that audiences are eager for stories with racial diversity. What the success of these movies also shows is that audiences are willing to engage with another kind of diversity, more present but perhaps even harder to get right—socioeconomic diversity.
(08/19/18 4:31pm)
When Camille skates, she’s skating against the wishes of her mother. She’s also skating despite the expectations of the community. Her home life is a classic single-parent dynamic, her sport is one that’s crowded by boys. This is the premise of Skate Kitchen, director Crystal Moselle's new film. The teenage Camille, played by the very cool Rachelle Vinberg, is skating against stereotypes. As far as she knows, the only place where other girls skate is online.
(08/10/18 1:00pm)
Though most famous for his stand–up comedy, Bo Burnham has become a hot topic of late for his new movie, Eighth Grade. Plainly stated, the plot and characters are (un)remarkably normal, at least by today's standards. Starring 15–year–old Elsie Fisher as Kayla, Eighth Grade is a comically awkward and poignantly moving glimpse into the new teenager’s final moments of middle school.
(08/05/18 3:33pm)
A man sitting on a leather couch, smoking a cigar, and looking ecstatic as he says “I love money” is a sight you would expect to see in a movie like The Wolf of Wall Street, behind some closed door in the Financial District. Except the scene in question is shot about 4,000 miles away, and its protagonist—whose German accent, if not the gilded background, gives him away—is none other than Florian Homm, the “Antichrist of finance.”
(07/13/18 1:39pm)
It’s always distressing to go on Netflix in search of that movie you know was on there just last week, only to find that it disappeared. Here’s a little warning for you on upcoming expiration dates—and, just in case you miss them, some alternatives that (heads up!) were just added to the Netflix catalog.
(07/05/18 1:21pm)
Almost two decades after Steven Soderbergh’s Ocean’s Eleven reinvigorated the American heist, Ocean’s 8 has given the genre a female facelift. It’s not the first franchise reboot to feature a new all–women cast; the 2016 Ghostbusters faced backlash from critics and concerned misogynists alike, even before its release. Regardless, both films mark a shift towards better representation on the big screen—think: Wonder Woman, Lady Bird, The Handmaid’s Tale, etc.
