Tag: cinema
100 Years of D. W. Griffith’s Intolerance: Love’s Struggle Throughout the Ages
We have another decade to go before the United States turns 250 – and sixty years total before the tercentennial in 2076 – but now, before 2016 comes to an end, we can at last – and certainly not least! – celebrate the 100th Anniversary of one of the earliest epics (and earliest motion pictures…
The Hip Six: The Coolest Films of 2016
“He’s the exact opposite of everything I really hate. In a way he’s such a clueless dork that he’s almost cool.” “That guy is many things but he definitely isn’t “cool.” And so goes the argument between Enid (Thora Birch) and Rebecca (Scarlett Johansson) over the merits of Seymour (Steve Buscemi) in Terry Zwigoff’s Ghost…
The Mute Child in Three Films: The Fits, Kicks, and Moonlight
2016 has been a mediocre year for mainstream American film. That doesn’t mean there hasn’t been some excellent work. But the product as a whole has been mired in redundant sequels and superheroes, and the blandness of the output is cause for alarm. But there is also cause for hope. This is all anecdotal for…
Musicians In Film: 10 Great Musical Talents We Lost In 2016
I hesitate to draw conclusions before all the facts are in, but let’s face it. 2016 has sucked. And not just in the land of cinema, where precious few gems have risen above the extraordinary wave of mediocrity we have witnessed. As the world at large retreats from communality, decency and fact, we need artists…
Decrying/Praising ‘The Book of Life’ and ‘Kubo and the Two Strings’
What do you get when you add unbridled creativity to a project with limited substance? Well, it’s possible something good may come out of it. In the case of The Book of Life (2014) and Kubo and the Two Strings (2016), however, you get cinematic dreck. I know—that’s rather harsh. But these two films may…