Month: April 2021
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Y tu Mamá También: A Profound Exploration of Mexican Society and Self-Discovery
Years before Mexican director, Alfonso Cuaron, was winning Academy Awards for movies like Gravity (2013) and Roma(2018), he directed a small, intimate film about two best friends who decide to embark on an improvised road trip to spend time with an older, attractive woman who miraculously agrees to go with them. Y tu Mamá También…
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‘Thelma’ is a Chilling, Hauntingly Beautiful Story of Discovery
Thelma (2017) opens with a startling and chilling scene that perfectly sets the stage for the unnerving, quietly powerful, and hauntingly beautiful story that is about to unfold. A man and a young girl walk through a frozen landscape, hunting. When they stop to shoot a deer, the man, standing behind the girl so she…
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“Imagine Me & You” is a Sweet, if Dated, Rom-Com for the Ages
Imagine Me & You tells the story of Rachel, a newlywed bride who begins to question her sexuality after meeting Luce, an out lesbian who does the floral arrangements for her wedding. As the two begin to develop a closer bond, Rachel finds herself falling for Luce while trying to figure out what this means…
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A Refusal to Comply: The Films of Lynne Ramsay
“Well, the film industry is completely sexist and completely class-biased.” A closer look at Lynne Ramsay’s impressive body of work.
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Trauma Personified: 2018’s “Citizen Rose”
After years of silence, trauma, and backlash, Rose McGowan tells her own story in this miniseries.
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Sick or Evil or Both: “My Friend Dahmer” and the Coverage of White Killers
This HBO mini-series asks why a young white man turned to violence and finds no easy answers. But why do we only ask questions about certain kinds of killers?
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‘Hysterical’ is an Absolute Must-See of 2021
In recent weeks, I’ve been on a quest to delve into the disparities in representation within the stand-up comedy community. With no shortage of stand-up specials constantly being released across every platform, it seems only fitting to dig deeper into a behind-the-scenes look at how certain advantages and disadvantages take their toll on diverse joke-telling.…
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Outer Banks Ignores Its Racial Context
Outer Banks (2020-) knows its audience: young adults in a country that can’t stop romanticizing good ole’ treasure hunts. Add a little of Riverdale’s (2017-) sex appeal, and no one can look away. Forty years after The Goonies (1985) America’s consciousness hasn’t strayed from the same tropes: treasure hunts, a vulnerable white male lead, and the whitewashing…
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How Subtle is Too Subtle in ‘Nomadland’?
Minor Spoilers Ahead They say home is where the heart is, and Nomadland is all heart…if you project onto it, at least. Following a woman living in her van going from one temporary, minimum-wage job to the next, the film gives some insight into a world often hidden from the on-screen due to its often…
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“Concrete Cowboy” (2021) Review: An Endangered and Unknown Subculture
Ricky Staub’s Concrete Cowboy, based on Greg Neri’s novel “Ghetto Cowboy”, tells the story of a young teenager forced to adapt to a new lifestyle.