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(02/28/18 7:16pm)
It should come as no surprise that history is a great storyteller. Bringing historical moments to life on screen can illuminate the triumphs and pitfalls of people across space and time. Revisiting stories with contemporary significance through film ensures that the lessons of the past remain within the public psyche. Black History Month serves as a moment for the celebration of Black excellence, a reflection on the experiences of African Americans (both today and through history), and a deepening consideration for the people and events that will forever shape the political, social, and cultural landscape of the United States.
(02/23/18 2:00pm)
New York City is known for many things—great pizza, glittering skyscrapers, sidewalks crowded with fast–talking business people—but the warmth and friendliness of its residents rarely make the cut. To outsiders, it seems that everyone is always in a rush in New York. They are notoriously pushy, adhering to a code of necessary rudeness to get from point A to point B as quickly as possible. Out–of–towners tend to remark that New York may be a wonderful place to visit, but a difficult place to call home. Movies and television shows that are filmed in New York often do a good job contrasting the pace of the city with the lives of those who inhabit it. New York serves as a backdrop in HBO’s series High Maintenance, which tells the stories of its ordinary people and the way they interact with each other, as well as with the city that they share.
(03/16/18 1:00pm)
The term "black comedy" gets thrown around quite a bit. It’s one of those easy–to–grab labels that anyone can stick on a film or television show that made them laugh more than they believe it should have. At the core of any black comedy is the exploration of traditionally taboo subjects through the lens of humor or satire, often of the dead–pan, misanthropic variety. Dark humor is a tool people have used for hundreds—if not thousands—of years in theatrical arts; making light of life’s inevitable darkness is, after all, a natural coping mechanism.
(02/21/18 2:00pm)
The ease of online communication in our increasingly digital world is generally presented as a curse just as often as it is as a blessing. There is a sense that diving too deep into an online presence detaches us from reality and dulls our ability to communicate face to face. This is certainly a product of the convenience of expression that the internet offers, where the screen serves as a buffer between an individual and the world. On the other hand, social media has proven to be a platform for a kind of emotional honesty, serving to communicate condensed, snappy versions of everyday struggles for the world to like and retweet. Empathizing with these bite–sized pieces of the human condition is comforting—it’s nice to know that you are understood. However, the effect of these glimmers of connection are short lived, and their content is often shallow. There are far more meaningful ways of connecting to universal emotional experiences—and one of those is film.
(02/21/18 2:47am)
It’s not uncommon to feel a small pang of anxiety upon hearing that one of your favorite novels is soon to be adapted for the big screen. On one hand, the immortalization of your favorite stories is obviously very exciting. On the other, the movie could be a total flop, or worse, it could deconstruct and reinterpret the book in a way that strips it of its most effecting literary devices. Some books just aren’t meant for film adaptation, no matter how good they are; others have potential, but aren’t translated with the proper care and artistry, and then, on occasion, a movie will transcend the book from which it was inspired, using the medium of film to enhance the book’s best qualities.
(02/15/18 1:12pm)
The teen drama is a staple of American television, and perhaps it is the universality of our experiences as adolescents that makes this genre so enduringly popular. Being a teenager is inherently melodramatic—it’s a time in our lives characterized by anxiety, misunderstanding, identity crises, and every manner of internal and external turmoil necessary to build a captivating world filled with interesting characters. Why, then, does it seem that so many popular American teen shows are entirely implausible, pumped up with every manner of dramatic—and sometimes life threatening—entanglements we could never imagine finding ourselves in?
(02/08/18 5:37am)
Many consider 2017 to be the Year of the Woman. Last January, thousands mobilized across the country in response to the misogyny they saw embodied in their new President. As the year continued, women opened up about their experiences with sexual assault when the #MeToo movement came to the forefront. As awards season continues through the early months of this year, celebrating the film industry’s greatest achievements is not enough: the conversation addressing its problematic parts is far from over.
(02/10/18 10:43pm)
The most commercially successful films of the last year included all the usual suspects—the latest installment of the Star Wars franchise, a substantial helping of comic book adaptations, and every flavor of flashy, action–packed entertainment bursting with all the wonders of special effects one could imagine. With a few exceptions, these blockbusters were also critical success stories, and despite being unrecognized in many of the more prestigious categories in this year’s Academy Awards, films like Star Wars: The Last Jedi and War for the Planet of the Apes received well–earned technical nominations.