Screen
A lesson in unintended consequences
“What about the ROUS?”
“Rodents of unusual size? I don’t think they exist.” — Princess Buttercup and Westley in The Princess Bride
Bad news Westley, they...
Fun with Catholics and Communism
The funniest scene in Hail, Caesar! is a microcosm of the film’s overall genius. Foppish British director Laurence Laurentz (Ralph Fiennes) tries to get...
A portrait of the writers as young men
David Foster Wallace is an ordinary guy. He reads obsessively, eats junk food en masse, is addicted to watching TV, wonders what it is like when Alanis Morissette eats a bologna sandwich and lives his life with a nagging feeling of emptiness. Wallace self-diagnoses ...
Home viewing: Cheryl Dunye
Sometimes you have to create your own history. —Cheryl Dunye
She calls them “Dunyementaries”: Cinematic blends of fiction and documentary, construction and confession. They’re self-reflexive...
Not a good look
"More plot!” demanded not one single fan of the original Zoolander. So, of course, writers Justin Theroux, Ben Stiller, Nicholas Stoller and John Hamburg...
Sucky socialists
Paul Rudd stands in front of a bathroom vanity and riffs a string of vulgar, not-very-funny euphemisms for the intercourse he plans to have with Malin Akerman’s character in an outtake that’s part of the closing credits of Wanderlust. It’s a part of the process with ...
Wherefore art thou, Magilla Gorilla?
San Andreas and Jurassic Park III were provided abstinence-only education, didn’t use intellectual property protection and had an illegitimate Rampage baby. Oh yeah, while...
John Hughes for kids
Released a year ago, the first Diary of a Wimpy Kid movie captured remarkably little of the sly charm of the Jeff Kinney books that line my son’s bookshelf. The film did, however, capture enough of the fan base to warrant a sequel. And here we are. And it’s a little ...
‘Vampire’s Assitant’ doesn’t have enough bite
In the bizarre world of Cirque Du Freak: The Vampire’s Assistant, there’s a war brewing over “portion” control. It seems the truce between those who sip, leaving humans a little weaker but none the wiser, and those who gorge, gluttons who leave death, destruction and...
Celebrating Stan
Watching a Stan Brakhage film is like dreaming with your eyes open. The
collision of colors and shadows, images overlapping images, distortions and
rapid-fire editing imprints...
