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(03/02/20 10:23pm)
Gavin O'Connor, C'86, has a thing for sports. Not only was he on Penn's football team back in his salad days, but he's since gone on to direct films like Miracle, about the US hockey team's eponymous "Miracle on Ice" in the 1980 Winter Olympics, and Warrior, in which Tom Hardy and Joel Edgerton portray brother MMA fighters. The greatest departure from O'Connor's groove may be The Accountant, in which he directs Ben Affleck playing an autistic hitman who spends his days as a CPA.
(03/04/20 8:57pm)
H.G. Wells’ novel The Invisible Man, one of the pillars of science fiction, depicts the world through the eyes of Griffin, a mad scientist who learned how to make himself invisible. He terrorizes a local town with his newfound ability, leading to the destruction of his own sanity and that of those around him.
(02/28/20 3:30am)
Disney has claimed to have their first gay characters numerous times, each to varying levels of outwardness, representation, and validity. First, it was LeFou in the live adaptation of Beauty and the Beast who did little more than dance with a man in an ensemble scene at the film’s close. Next, it was through Cyrus Goodman on Andi Mack, who was the first of Disney’s characters to say “I’m gay” on–screen. Now, Disney has garnered headlines again with a character in the upcoming film Onward, voiced by Lena Waithe, who, apparently, is the first out gay character in a Pixar film.
(02/28/20 3:07am)
There is no question Portrait of a Lady on Fire is a story for women. Although oppressed by their circumstances, there's joy and courage in the daily lives of our two main characters, Marianne (Noémie Merlant), a French painter, and Héloïse (Adèle Haenel), a bride–to–be who is her subject.
(02/25/20 1:26am)
It’s no secret Chilling Adventures of Sabrina is not the Sabrina the Teenage Witch you grew up watching. Sure, she might still be blonde, but Salem can no longer talk and the magic is more demonic than mystical.
(02/28/20 3:19am)
Why can’t we stop talking about Sonic the Hedgehog? Almost a year ago, in April of 2019, the movie made headlines after its first trailer. The reason? Its absolutely horrific design for Sonic. His eyes were small and beady, his teeth were shockingly human, and his overall look was so photorealistic that he scarcely resembled the fuzzy, blue hedgehog we have come to love from the original Sega games. Apparently, the dozens of articles on the subject and the public outcry were heard by the producers—just a few days later, they announced that Sonic’s design was to be changed and the movie’s release date postponed.
(02/21/20 1:21am)
Star Trek: Picard is an addictive show that stands on its own, despite having roots in previous Star Trek media. It may be less emotional or nostalgic for viewers who are unfamiliar with the other installments of the franchise, but it’s still an independently interesting science fiction mystery. The show clarifies itself as it goes along, setting up the stakes for those with no background in the greater Star Trek universe.
(02/19/20 7:14pm)
To the horror of die–hard binge watchers, or casual viewers, Friends was removed from Netflix on Dec. 31.
(02/21/20 1:40am)
Every generation needs its darling. It should come as no surprise that names such as Elizabeth Taylor or Audrey Hepburn, the most famous actresses of their time, are surviving household names. More recent and comparable women who started their careers while young and have had a lasting impact on culture include Meryl Streep and Emma Thompson. Just a generation later it's Kate Winslet and Jodie Foster. Now, however, it comes time for the current crop of college students and young people to figure out who will become the prominent name of the time. Among a wide scope of talented performers, a single name has emerged: the 23–year–old, Academy Award–nominated, Florence Pugh.
(02/21/20 12:58am)
Even if you don't know Kristen Schaal's name or face, you definitely know her voice. Gracing the best animated cartoons of the past decade, you've inevitably heard her childish, high–pitched intonation, whether due to her leading role as Louise in Bob’s Burgers or Sarah Lynn in BoJack Horseman.
(02/17/20 6:48am)
Blumhouse’s Fantasy Island, based on the 1984 ABC television series of the same name, has a very simple premise—somewhere, there is an island that makes your dreams come true. The mysterious Mr. Roarke (Michael Peña) runs it with his ominous staff and apparently invites various people to visit and live out their dreams. With such a concept, of course, things will quickly go awry.
(02/13/20 3:29am)
Sweeping awards in four categories and rewriting the history books at the 92nd Academy Awards, Bong Joon–ho’s Parasite gave us a lot to feel good about. On its way to becoming the first non–English language film to win Best Picture, Parasite also picked up wins for Best Original Screenplay, Best International Feature Film, and Best Director—and now has the distinct honor of being the first South Korean film to win anything at the Academy Awards. Yet, the circus of luxury and upper–class opulence that has inevitably accompanied Parasite’s fairytale journey in awards season is a strange, ironic reminder of the very horrors the film satirizes.
(02/17/20 6:00am)
Birds of Prey: And the Fantabulous Emancipation of One Harley Quinn is a superhero movie in some sense of the genre. It's based on comics by DC, set in the famous city of Gotham, and cares about a character’s journey to beating some brooding, ominous villain who pulls political strings behind closed doors. It has fight scenes, character development, and big, flashy sequences where all our heroes come together.
(02/12/20 1:02am)
When I was a child, my family didn’t have cable. When we wanted to watch something together, we’d pull out the DVD that sat under the television throughout my childhood, unceremoniously kept in a white paper sleeve with a handwritten title on the top: Dilwale Dulhania Le Jayenge, one of the most popular Bollywood movies ever made.
(02/12/20 1:46am)
The romantic comedy, while far from the most prestigious genre of film, is certainly one of the most culturally important. Movies in this genre may be called disparaging names such as “chick flicks,” scoffed at by the greater world of cinema, and ignored at every award ceremony ever made, but they are talked about decade after decade. However, among these comedies, one film stands out as the pinnacle of the rom–com, the paragon of everything that these movies are about: Bridget Jones’ Diary.
(02/17/20 6:30am)
"Hello, my name is Joe Pera." That's how every episode of Joe Pera Talks With You begins, followed by Pera's explanation of some acute topic in a clear, simple manner, delivered in the calm, steady tone of a Mister Rogers–incarnate. Each episode runs around 11 minutes long, airing on Adult Swim, and channels a child–like innocence with an edge of comedy that feels almost accidental, like when your teacher says "fuck."
(02/07/20 10:17pm)
Greener Grass, just recently released on Hulu, opens to classical music playing on a field nestled within the heart of Suburbia. The setting is familiar. We've all seen the trope of perfectly WASP–y, pristine, entirely constructed environments filled with entirely fake people. Here, a melodramatic spectacle is made of a children’s soccer game. A child yawns, a boy bumps into him, and then he collapses onto the ground, hyperventilating and crying for his mother.
(02/05/20 4:43am)
The Taylor Swift of Lana Wilson's new Netflix documentary, Miss Americana is alone—a surprising qualifier for someone whose reputation is at least partially built on her friends and ex–lovers. Wilson documents Swift as the hero of own life story, leaving everyone else around the star to the periphery. Nearly every frame of footage is filled with Taylor Swift.
(02/05/20 3:53pm)
Warning: this article contains minor spoilers for the final season of BoJack Horseman.
(02/03/20 4:47pm)
The Turning could have been a perfectly fine movie. Perhaps it was destined to be a B–list horror flick with nothing new to say, a silly plot with a vaguely interesting premise, a promising setting (you can never go wrong with a haunted Victorian mansion), a pair of creepy kids, and some ominous spiders appearing out of nowhere. Yet, despite its decidedly okay production, it fumbles its way from alright into actively bad, leaving its audience with little more than angry grumbles.
