The Hungry begins with a murder, ends with a murder, and in case you’ve forgotten what it’s about, there are several murders between. This is a bloodbath, I thought, as I watched it. It’s like a Shakespearean tragedy. After watching the movie and while preforming research on it, I saw that it wasn’t like...
In my review of Jeff VanderMeer’s Annihilation, I said I felt reluctant to see the movie, because I didn’t want Hollywood’s images to override the images I imagined as I read it. It was an innovated novel that invoked specific visions in my mind. I worried Hollywood’s interpretation would override those, and I wanted...
Though Tomb Raider starring Alicia Vikander as Lara Croft, is a diversion, a simple entertainment, it gave us nothing new. It’s a competent film by competent filmmakers, who colored within the lines, stamped a MPAA rating on it, and packaged it in a candy bar wrapper. It’s mass-produced fluff. I went to see it...
Jason Matthews’ Red Sparrow concerns Dominika Egorova. The strength in the novel lies in her characterization and in the arc she experienced. Though she always didn’t feel like the novel’s protagonist, she always felt like its main character. The events in Red Sparrow happened because of who she was and how she changed. The...
The reader might remember that in my first review of Song to Song, I felt uncertain whether I liked it or not. I promised to revisit the movie in a month’s time, after it set with me for awhile, and watch it again. On the eve of that second viewing, I found myself excited...
Captain America Civil War introduced T’Challa a.k.a. Black Panther. He’s a prince of the African nation of Wakanda, who became the king when his father was killed in a terrorist bombing. He’s also Black Panther, the protector of his people. In the build-up to Black Panther’s release, I realized that T’Challa’s character arc from...
Though I’ve enjoyed every movie I’ve seen so far this year, I had been watching heavy movies, so last weekend, I felt in the mood for something lighthearted. Jumanji: Welcome the the Jungle looked promising. The trailers promised a funny movie, and the talent seemed poised to keep the promise. I like Dwayne Johnson...
Octave Mirbeau’s The Diary of a Chambermaid, published in 1900, is often considered an erotic classic, but in its pages, there’s as much social commentary, if not more, as there is sex. Much of the commentary comes from the Dreyfus Affair, which exposed antisemitism in turn-of-the-century France, but the novel also compares and contrasts...
Hostiles begins brutal and it remains brutal throughout its runtime. It’s a story about war and the men and women who experience it. The Indian Wars are over, but the cultural conflicts and land disputes that ignited them remain, as do racial hatred and distrust. The film tells a personal story about Captain Joseph...
Since this is the third week in a roll when my choice of movie is an Oscar contender for Best Picture, the reader would be forgiven if he or she thought I was surveying Oscar nominees. I assure you I have no such desire or intention. Since the Oscars are the most anticipated and...
