Candyman begins with inversion, as the studio logos of Universal, Monkeypaw Productions and MGM are presented in reverse. From here, we move into low-angled shots of the Chicago skyline. These imposing buildings express wealth, power and privilege, but rather towering over the viewer, they are inverted, viewed from above. Clouds wreath the building crests but…
The Democratic National Convention met in Chicago in August 1968 to choose their presidential candidate in a tumultuous year that saw the assassinations of Martin Luther King and Robert Kennedy, the passage of the Civil Rights Act, Prague Spring, and growing protests in cities around the world against the escalation of the Vietnam War. Although…
Fans of Jordan Peele’s incomparable societal critique “Get Out” can rejoice as the horror-auteur swings for the fences in his newest horror-thriller Us, and for the most part, hits it straight out of the park. Piggybacking off of the inquisitive, yet cynical, tone of his directorial debut, Us follows the Wilson family as they attempt…
Horror auteur (“The Conjuring”) and box office money maker (“Furious 7”) James Wan takes a somewhat unexpected stab at the superhero genre with Aquaman. Starring the imposing, but beloved, Jason Momoa (“Conan the Barbarian”), scene stealing Amber Heard (“Machete Kills”), and a seasoned Willem Dafoe (“The Florida Project”), Wan’s installment to the successful (albeit it…
Here are a few things I learned from the film Baywatch: Movies adapted from television programs are almost always terrible (the few exceptions are “The Brady Bunch Movie” and the “Mission: Impossible” franchise; this also includes most films based on “Saturday Night Live” sketches); moronic writers who cannot think of clever lines or situations always…
