Arts

'Burning' is a riveting drama about masculinity and desire

By Joyce Lee | January 17, 2019

There’s an image in Lee Chang-dong’s “Burning” that I still see when I close my eyes at night: a little boy approaches a burning greenhouse. He is inexplicably dripping wet — with water? with gasoline? — and he stares at the flames in a trance.

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Arts

In 'The Mule,' Clint Eastwood is an old dog sticking to old tricks

By Mia Nelson | January 17, 2019

Clint Eastwood directs and stars in the “The Mule,” a drama inspired by a New York Times Article written by Nick Schenk that detailed the Sinaloa Cartel’s use of a 90 year old drug mule. Eastwood plays Earl Stone, a down-on-his luck former daylily horticulturist who becomes a drug runner, or mule, for a cartel in Illinois.

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Arts

Review: "Vice" is a dramatic, complex look at an American villain

By Willem Gerrish | January 10, 2019

Adam McKay seems to have something of an obsession with the American culture of corruption and excess.

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Arts

Review: ‘The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel’ cannot have it all

By Joyce Lee | January 8, 2019

Last June, Australian comedian Hannah Gadsby released her Netflix stand-up special “Nanette.” The show received critical acclaim and an entire literature of think-pieces, not because it was especially funny or because the jokes were radical (although they were), but because Gadsby used her special to question what it means to use self-deprecating comedy as a woman, a queer individual and as an “other” who exists in the margins.

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Arts

‘Mary Queen of Scots’ wastes potential due to choppy writing

By Sebastian Wurzrainer | January 8, 2019

In his video “Ludonarrative Dissonance,” film essayist Dan Olson advocates the use of the term “Cinemanarrative Dissonance.” The term describes when an aspect of a film flounders because two or more creative departments did competent work that was nevertheless contradictory due to the lack of a strong, unified vision for the overall product.

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Arts

Review: 'Bandersnatch' opens up new possibilities for stories

By Joyce Lee | January 6, 2019

I’ll be the first to admit it — I am not a gamer. I don’t know much about any specific kind of game, about the world of gaming or of gamers in general.

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Arts

Review: ‘Crimes of Grindelwald’ is another disappointment

By Sebastian Wurzrainer | January 3, 2019

Two years ago, I was in the minority when I declared “Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them” to be less than the sum of its parts.

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Arts

Review: 'Free Solo' portrays the heartbreaking costs of triumpth

By Willem Gerrish | November 13, 2018

In Yosemite Valley, a massive rock formation looms over the sweeping vistas of picturesque splendor.

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Arts

Review: Robert Redford shines in ‘The Old Man and the Gun’

By James Cronin | November 8, 2018

When I saw “The Old Man and the Gun” last weekend at The Nugget, I was easily one of the youngest people in the audience.

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Arts

Review: ‘Elf’ holds up as a Christmas classic for its 15th anniversary

By Veronica Winham | November 1, 2018

It’s the day after Halloween, which obviously means we’re ready to plunge headfirst into the holiday season.

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Arts

Review: Director Damien Chazelle shines again with ‘First Man’

By Willem Gerrish | October 30, 2018

Director Damien Chazelle is quickly making a name for himself as the rightful heir to the throne of dramatic cinema.

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Arts

Review: Michael Myers deserves more in the new ‘Halloween’

By Savannah Miller | October 30, 2018

Michael Myers and Laurie Strode deserve more in the new “Halloween.” When one thinks of the quintessential film serial killers, several names come to mind: Jason Voorhees, Freddy Kreuger, Leatherface, etc.

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Arts

Review: ‘Bad Times at the El Royale’ fails to live up to its hype

By James Cronin | October 25, 2018

I love my Saturday afternoon naps. I really do. Six of the seven Saturdays that I’ve been on campus, I’ve spent buried under a pile of blankets in a coma-like state that I don’t emerge from for at least three hours.

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Arts

'Colette' fails in its biopic purpose for 'Claudine' writer

By Isabelle Blank | October 23, 2018

“What a wonderful life I’ve had! I only wish I’d realized it sooner.” – Colette In the present moment of the Time’s Up movement, Kavanaugh’s confirmation and the Trump presidency at-large, the age-old narrative of man silencing woman is especially resonant.

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Arts

Review: ‘Eating Animals’ is a crucial look at agricultural industry

By Courtney McKee | October 19, 2018

“Eating Animals” is an important film. Based on the 2009 book of the same name by Jonathan Safran Foer, the documentary explores the subject of the American agricultural industry, a topic that’s often neglected in public discussions, and focuses on the highly troubling issue of the factory farming of poultry and livestock.

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Arts

Review: Ian McKellen blurs reality and fiction in “King Lear”

By Willem Gerrish | October 16, 2018

One of my fondest memories of my senior year of high school is when my English class read, performed and studied William Shakespeare’s epic tragedy “King Lear.” At that time, the play captivated me with its stark and honest portrayal of human fallibility and tragic loss and it quickly became one of my favorite works of literature.

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Arts

Review: “The Front Runner” asks about the cost of accountability

By Mia Nelson | October 16, 2018

“The Front Runner” directed by Jason Reitman of “Juno,” “Up in the Air” and “Tully,” stars Hugh Jackman as U.S.

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Arts

Review: ‘Venom’ is not worth the $15 ticket, unfortunately

By James Cronin | October 9, 2018

When I was eight years old, I begged my mom for weeks to let me see “Iron Man.” I remember the excitement I felt when she finally relented and said yes.

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Arts

Review: 'Sorry to Bother You' is an insane, surrealist ride

By Joyce Lee | October 9, 2018

There’s crazy, there’s satire, there’s dystopian, and then there’s “Sorry to Bother You.” Musician Boots Riley’s 2018 directorial debut takes place in an alternative-world Oakland — but don’t let the term “alternative-world” fool you.

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Arts

Review: Melissa McCarthy stuns in ‘Can You Ever Forgive Me?’

By Mia Nelson | October 5, 2018

“I have a hangover that is a real museum piece,” Lee Israel writes, imitating writer Dorothy Parker in a particularly famous forgery of Parker’s letters.

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