Film & TV
Through the Olive Trees (1994) is a film I understood long before I was able to properly watch it. During my first year of college, my screenwriting professor played the film's final sequence over and over again, about 20 times, before allowing us to process it altogether...
Film & TV
Two films, one a revered classic and the other a recent classic, interrogate the American Myth, examining the inevitable ruin that comes from obscene power and the legends we draw from such tales.
Film & TV
Our spoiler-averse culture has reached a fever pitch, but is its terror justified?
Film & TV
Mike Leigh's acclaimed drama expresses the intensity and catharsis of seeing those around you as full, complete people.
Film & TV
There are no small parts, only small actors. Philip Seymour Hoffman's six and a half minutes as an exasperated henchman in The Big Lebowski is a case study of the maxim.
Film & TV
Do longer seasons really represent the bottom tier of television, or have we just gotten lazy?
Film & TV
The stirring speech encapsulates the qualities that make Andor stand out from other Star Wars projects, and speaks to the brutal reality that lies behind the myths of rebellion.
Film & TV
The desire for praise and achievement can hinder our creative expression. Asteroid City’s criticism should remind us that art will always be subjective, and sometimes doing “too much” isn't always a bad thing.
Animation
Into the Spider-Verse turned American animation toward stylization, but rather than coming up with their own expressive styles, the film's disciples have simply copied its look.
Film & TV
Agnès Varda’s Le Bonheur uses radiant visuals to mask a deeper critique of male privilege, emotional labor, and the illusion of happiness. Through François’s idyllic perspective, the film questions who truly benefits from the picturesque.
Film & TV
Far more than a cheesy trend of the 1980s, ending a film on a freeze frame is a practice with a rich history that can sanctify a film's final emotional beats or throw us into uncertainty.
Film & TV
It has quietly become assumed that every film and series is there to give us clear commentary about the here and now. But in thinking this way, we shut down the interaction between art and culture and let culture call all the shots.