Film
WRESTLEMANIAC: IN ‘FOXCATCHER,’ EMPTY PATRIOTISM GETS PINNED
Within every unbalanced power dynamic, there are two points of view that can never see eye to eye no matter how united they may appear. The reasons a soldier may enlist have nothing to do with why wars are declared. A worker may enjoy their job, but their interests will never be fully aligned with ...
MAYOR’S OFFICE ANNOUNCES WINNERS OF ‘FENWAY’S 30-SECOND CINEMA’
The Mayor’s Office of New Urban Mechanics and the Boston Art Commission announced the winners of “Fenway’s ...
JONES UNCHAINED: ‘THE HOMESMAN’ RETHINKS THE REVISIONIST WESTERN
At a time when the Revisionist Western is now more common than the traditional variety it subverted, the market for new angles from which to deconstruct America’s expansion has gotten a bit flooded. There are no more tales of do-gooders and lawmen versus scoundrels and ruffians who want to exploit ...
STILL REPPIN’: JACQUES DEMY’S DEFIANT CHEER
It’s not pacing, tone, or color scheme that truly unites Demy’s work, but rather worldview: That life is full of phantasmagorical pleasures... and that all of them will inevitably be crushed before us, whether in the name of war, work, or anything else.
MOCKINGJAY, OR THE TEENAGER’S GUIDE TO PROPAGANDA AND REVOLUTION
It’s a teenager’s guide to propaganda and revolution, but for those who are familiar with these narratives, its lesson feels heavy-handed, like a fictional—but not exactly literary—application written specifically for a history book.
YOU CALL THIS ARCHAEOLOGY?: HARVARD PROFESSOR SCHOOLS INDIANA JONES
“There’s definitely this ambivalence [among archaeologists] toward the character specifically, but it’s mediated a little bit by the fact that most archaeologists—at least who are in their younger-than-fifties or maybe even younger than their sixties—experienced Indiana Jones at an early age, probably before they were professional archaeologists.”
IN PROGRESS: A FILM ABOUT WHEN COMEDY ISN’T ENOUGH
With the success of "Louie" and the tragic passing of Robin Williams, the reality of comedy as a deeply personal—and draining—art form is in the public discourse.
‘SEA OF GREEN’: THE MOVIE MASS RAP AND WEED FANS HAVE BEEN WAITING FOR, AND IN SOME CASES MAY ACTUALLY APPEAR IN
There are far too many cameos to mention, but hip-hop fans won't be disappointed by the soundtrack or the Name Game you can play as subterranean legends surface in all scenes.
ON ‘ROSEWATER’: MAZIAR BAHARI DISCUSSES HIS UNLIKELY SAGA OF JOURNALISM, IMPRISONMENT, AND ‘THE DAILY SHOW’
"What happened to me in prison, it wasn’t funny at the time, because I was blindfolded and I was in solitary confinement or in an interrogation room. But with hindsight … it’s just laughable. My experience inside of Iran’s prison was [as] if they had read Kafka and then they thought it was not ridiculous enough and they added a bit of Monty Python to it.”