Author Archive
Film Review – My Friend Dahmer
Derf Backderf’s graphic novel My Friend Dahmer is an honest character study of a person who lacks so much basic humanity that he was barely able to function beyond whatever role society wanted to project onto him. Jeffery Dahmer was a real life monster; a…
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Film Review – Raw
Julia Ducournau’s French/Belgian horror film Raw reinterprets the emotional and physical strains of post-adolescents into a grisly genre masterwork. Within her gory exploration of common coming-of-age tropes, such as peer group hierarchies, the awkward discovery of sexuality and the love/hate whirlwind of sibling rivalry, Ducournau…
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Film Review – Goat
Andrew Neel’s latest feature Goat is an archetypically American film that explores the psychology of toxic masculinity. This dark indie debuted at Sundance, where it was met with some early buzz for its lead performances by the up and coming Ben Schnetzer (Warcraft, Punk’s Dead: SLC…
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SXSW Film Review – Hired Gun
As anybody with a liberal arts degree will tell you these days, it’s tough to be a freelancer. Job security is more and more becoming a fleeting indulgence and those looking to survive on their craft alone are met with viciously fluctuating economic circumstances that…
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Film Review – Do I Sound Gay?
David Thorpe’s documentary Do I Sound Gay? comfortably sits just outside of a larger political question within the context of a personal journey. This is not an unusual way to frame a broad argument, such as western society’s attitudes towards perceived femininity in men, but…
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Film Review – Salad Days: The Birth of Punk in the Nation’s Capital
It’s for good reason that there is still a lot interest and respect for the highly influential DC punk rock scene and for Dischord Records, the label in which many of its bands belonged. While the majority of groups and record labels associated with American…
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Film review – Appropriate Behavior
Desiree Akhavan’s breakup comedy Appropriate Behavior cautiously and honestly blends the familiar with the new, as she competently writes, directs, and stars in her first feature. Indiscriminately using every aspect of her own life to the screen, Akhaven plays Shirin, a second-generation Iranian who’s struggling…
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Film Review – Pump
We’ve all heard stories about how the motor companies could be making cars that run on water or corn oil or Mr. Fusion devices that convert beer cans and egg shells into fuel. We’ve also heard how the oil companies have done everything in their…
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