My dad grew up in Miami Beach in the late 50s and early 60s. He told me about the duck and cover drills they ran every day in elementary school. He told me that, during the Cuban Missile Crisis, they’d duck and cover twice or three times a day. He told me there was no fear, only anxiety. ‘If’ was a forgone conclusion, but ‘when’ drove everyone nuts. In Spielberg’s newest film, the Cold War historical drama, Bridge of Spies, there’s no genuine anxiety. There isn’t even real fear. There’s simply a story of the ultimate, incorruptible American hero. The Cold War atmosphere just feels obligatory.

Continue reading A Bridge Built Too Quickly: Structural Work Needed →

Can a film about male strippers really be feminist? On the surface, Magic Mike XXL certainly tries. However, the first time a woman speaks is 22 minutes and 27 seconds into the movie. Normally, going one-sixth of the way through a film before introducing a female character would be quite noticeable, but since there are only three or four named women in the movie, the missing dialogue is subtle. For a film so obviously targeted to women, does this movie do enough productive work? Continue reading The Complicated Feminism of Magic Mike XXL →

Full disclosure: I’ve never read Andy Weir’s The Martian, the novel from which Ridley Scott’s newest film by the same name was adapted. I have no idea how strictly Scott stuck to the novel’s plot and characters, or if the only thing he took from Weir was the title. Maybe, if I’d read the book, I’d have known how silly the movie was going to be. Maybe, but who knows.

Continue reading Nothing Grows from the Martian Surface →

Sequels don’t have to suck. Recent surprises like The Dark Knight and Toy Story 2 are proof that second servings can be just as good, if not better, than the first. Unfortunately, this exception does not apply to Ted 2, since this second iteration of Seth McFarlane’s talking bear does nothing to dispel the popular notion that sequels, almost always, come up short.

Continue reading One Ted 2 Many →

My earliest memory of my grandfather is of his valiant efforts to get me to eat my vegetables. A native of South Boston with an unmistakable Boston accent, he regularly entreated me not to waste food so that I could grow up to be “big and strong.” Although he often failed to convince me of the vegetables’ merits, there was always one threat that puzzled me. “If you don’t eat your vegetables,” he would say, “Whitey will get ya.” If you’re from Boston you know all about James “Whitey” Bulger, a ruthless, murderous mobster who ran the Winter Hill Gang. Scott Cooper’s Black Mass is a biographical representation of Whitey, from his family life with his brother and then with his wife and son, to his rise and fall as the unforgiving mastermind of organized crime in South Boston. The film does a masterful job at bringing Whitey and the enterprise back to life and artfully delineates the harsh realities of a life in organized crime.

Continue reading Black Mass is White(y) Hot →

In an industry currently headlined by Cara Delevigne, Alexander Wang, and the Olsen Twins, you would think one must be under 35 to ride the waves of fashion. Enter Iris Apfel, 94-year old businesswoman, interior designer, and fashion icon. Apfel, nicknamed “The Rare Bird of Fashion,” has been a consistent and prominent figure in the fashion world for over 60 years, and doesn’t plan on stopping anytime soon. Albert Maysles’s 2015 documentary Iris follows the rare bird throughout her day-to-day functions, activities that include consulting Bergdorf Goodman on their window display of her costume jewelry collection, appearing on Martha Stewart’s talk show, and posing for Vanity Fair magazine. This Queens native approaches each task with more energy than someone half her age, firing off inappropriate jokes and throwing out pop culture references at rapid speed. Whenever asked, “How are you?” Apfel is quick to respond, “I’m vertical.” While always aware of her age, she refuses to let it slow her down.

Continue reading Iris, the Apfel of My Eye →

If you can’t get enough of the yellow pill-shaped creatures from Despicable Me, it’s probably a dream come true that Universal Pictures released a movie that features only these lovable characters. But alas, this dream will be shattered once you actually watch the movie.

Continue reading Minions: A Despicable Disappointment →