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Oscars 2020 — Who Should Win? (Part One)
Here we go again. The Oscar nominations were announced on January 13 and everything felt familiar. Most of the nominees were deserving, but some of them weren’t. A handful of notable snubs caused Film Twitter to explode, specifically Adam Sandler for Uncut Gems, Greta Gerwig for Little Women, and Awkwafina for The Farewell. Awkwafina’s snub…
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The Lion King
In Disney’s continuing attempt to remake their animated classics, they have brought us The Lion King. The story has never looked so real, even though it treads familiar territory. Similar Yet Different While watching this version of The Lion King, I tried hard not to compare it to the original from 1994. However, it was…
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Mary Poppins Returns
The mass media, with their cult of celebrity and their attempt to surround it with glamour and excitement, have made Americans a nation of fans, moviegoers. — Christopher Lasch, The Culture of Narcissism ‘What is the nature of the search?’ you ask. The search is what anyone would undertake if he were not sunk in…
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Solo: A Star Wars Story
In the continued Hollywood landscape of expanding universes and intellectual property mining, very few franchises feel at home apart from their source material. Comic book movies have, well, their comic books. Book series like Game of Thrones and old films like Westworld find their homes in prestige television ventures. But perhaps no existing franchise feels…
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Annihilation
Our podcast this month was originally on A Wrinkle in Time. Then we saw the movie… Tune in to the beginning for Jon’s epic rant, and then stay for a discussion of a movie that’s actually worth talking about: Annihilation. Alex Garland is a prolific writer, ranging from novels (The Beach) to screenplays (28 Days…
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Coco
Pixar’s latest is a masterpiece of animation and storytelling with it’s characteristic warmth and humor wrapped in a no-cliches, culturally-specific narrative. The story takes place in Mexico, features an all-Latino cast, fluidly switches between Spanish and English, and introduces cultural elements that will be unfamiliar to white audiences — often with no narrative explanation. In…
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The Shape of Water
You’d be forgiven for writing off Guillermo del Toro as just another genre director. Entries like Hellboy, Blade Runner II, Pacific Rim, and Crimson Peak fit neatly in that vein. But if you really want to uncover del Toro’s heart, look no further than 2006’s Pan’s Labyrinth. The film has been described as an “adult…
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Lady Bird
Ladies and gentlemen, welcome to Oscar season. After a dismal year at the movies, studios have saved their best for last. December boasts the most hopefuls, but November has a trick up its sleeve: a little indie called Lady Bird. Greta Gerwig isn’t a household name, but you’ve seen her before. She’s acted in roles…
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Beauty, the Beast, and the Boycott
Full confession: I was not really that excited about the Beauty and the Beast remake. Like most children of the 90’s, I grew up watching the Disney animated original. I even owned a VHS copy. As I’ve gotten older, though, the story of Beauty and the Beast has become increasingly problematic for me. Intelligent, independent…
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Moana
Let’s make no mistake: Walt Disney studios isn’t hurting for recognition. Not only does it have arguably the most history of any Hollywood corporation, but it’s also now home to three of Hollywood’s most reputable and financially viable universes: Star Wars, Marvel, and Disney Pixar. And yet, Disney still finds itself lacking in one key…
