Sicario is a shoot ‘em up. A run ‘n gun. I was ready for good ole’ God-fearing American law enforcement versus the barbaric Mexican cartels and corrupt Mexican cops. But Denis Villenueve, Sicario’s director, understands how badly this could go. How America-centric, clumsy, or downright racist this could be. Yet the only misstep in this movie is the sometimes brooding, Nolan-esque score. Otherwise it’s decidedly something worth seeing, an action-thriller with a social conscience. To top it off, Villenueve has a killer aesthetic, throwing thermal-sight drone shots and desert dusk together without making you think twice about it.
The Emmy nominations are here, and as always I’ve forgotten not to care about them. Every year I am annoyed by every awards show, but I still follow them faithfully like a sad, hungry dog that will never be properly fed. If you are in the same position, enjoy this guide to the major categories!
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The first episode of a TV show is a welcome, a please come in, a sit down and make yourself at home. It’s a new start, a fresh group of people to know. These characters have a lot more to tell you about themselves and you should probably listen because this relationship might last for years.
Buzzfeed listicle with puppies. Buzzfeed listicle with gifs. #PrinceFarming. Engagement. Engagement. Thoughtcatalog article on relationships. #PrinceFarming. Thoughtcatalog article on being in your twenties. Thoughtcatalog article on having the best twenties EVER. Thoughtcatalog article on not worrying if you suck at your twenties and eat ramen for every meal because it will get better. Bill Cosby article. New Baby. #PrinceFarming… The rest I had seen a million times, but who was this “Prince Farming” plaguing my newsfeed? Continue reading Why I Couldn’t Even Make It Through the First Commercial Break of The Bachelor Pre-Show→
“Into the woods, then out of the woods, and home before dark!” promises Rob Marshall’s recently released film adaptation of Stephen Sondheim’s and James Lapine’s 1987 musical, Into the Woods. Unfortunately, Marshall’s film quickly forgets its promise. Despite Sondheim laying a clear path to success with his wickedly delightful and exquisitely powerful music and concept, director Rob Marshall’s Into the Woods quickly strays, stumbles, and becomes horribly lost in a tangled jungle of shadows, grit, and unwieldy CGI. Marshall’s two-hour marathon of low energy monotony and confused direction certainly won’t have you home before dark.
There are many different ways to tell a story. Novels, songs, plays, movies: they all have their own strengths and weaknesses. Why one storyteller chooses their particular medium is always an interesting question to ask, to see what it is about the form that lends itself to the story in question. Given all of the other possible ways to tell a story, why anyone would choose animation, the most difficult, tedious, time-consuming subset of film, is a mystery in and of itself. It’s Such a Beautiful Day is the answer to that question. Continue reading It’s Such a Beautiful Day: An Artist at Work→
Back in November, the New Yorker ran a profile of star stand-up and sometime auteur Chris Rock. The article framed the then-pending release of Top Five–Rock’s latest in an erratic series of bids for crossover film-stardom–as the comedian’s last chance to “crack” Hollywood and package himself as a leading man. The bulk of Rock’s quotes in the piece are characterized by what sounds like a consciously curtailed optimism: “Even if the movie doesn’t make a dime,” he says, “I’ve figured out the tone of movie I should be in.” Continue reading Top Five: Shake Well. Serve Immediately→
A man walks into a bar. At some point, he asks the bartender for a joke. “A man walks into a bar,” the bartender says, and stops there. The butt of the joke sarcastically but good-humoredly retorts “Very funny,” and demands a better one. The bartender (Ethan Hawke) insists that he knows no good jokes, but tries a chicken road-crossing one. It fails miserably, but he recovers by getting philosophical: “Do you ever wonder about that? The chicken and egg, which one came first?” Humoring the bartender, the man confidently declares “The rooster!” Continue reading Science Fiction Done Right→
The Affair knows that it is retreading well-worn ground. Adultery has been covered so extensively across all forms of media that it’s hard to imagine a new TV drama adding much to the conversation. For the first few episodes, though, it seemed like Sarah Treem and Hagai Levi had achieved the massively unlikely. The show actually felt original, with a fresh angle on its main characters and an innovative storytelling style. It’s unfortunate that by the tenth and final episode of the season, that freshness had all but disappeared into the many clichés of infidelity fiction. Continue reading An Affair to Forget→
