Hollywood

From Ordinary to Extraordinary Lives, Biopics Continue to Captivate Film Fans

Angelo Franco

Pam and Tommy was made anyway, of course. It received generally favorable reviews though; in the zeitgeist that is the current state of the Hollywood machine, the series has been largely forgotten already. It came and went and it rode the visibility that anything about a sex-tape was bound to receive, especially if it was about one of the most famous sex-tapes in the world to this day.

The Razzies Want Hollywood to Own Its ‘Bad’

Forrest Hartman

The Razzies also hammered Tom Hanks, who is one of the most celebrated actors in cinema history. Hanks not only won Worst Supporting Actor for his outing as Col. Tom Parker in “Elvis,” he received a share of the Worst Screen Combo Razzie. For the latter award, co-winners were the oddball accent he adopted as Parker and the latex facial prosthetics that made him look overweight. “These people have choices,” Wilson said.

Watching the 2023 Oscars: A Year of Reckoning

Tara Taghizadeh

After the unforgivable slap seen and heard around the world at last year’s Oscars ceremony, a few major questions remain: whether the Academy did enough to punish Will Smith for the attack on Chris Rock, and, given the general decline in viewership, are awards ceremonies still relevant? Of course, the greatest slap in the face to Will Smith – pardon the pun-- would have been if Chris Rock had hosted this year’s Oscars, but Rock turned down the offer.

Action Movies: Over-the-Top Spectacles or Misunderstood Meaningful Narratives?

Garrett Hartman

Critics and general audiences alike often view these films as over-the-top spectacles lacking meaningful storytelling. The action-packed focus of these films obviously detracts from narrative content; however, there seems to be a false perception that spectacle means the complete absence of worthwhile content. After all, we still learn about characters and how they develop during action sequences. For example, in “The Matrix’s” iconic scene where Neo dodges bullets in slow motion, we see Neo’s transformation from someone held to the mercy of the system to someone who has the will to defy it. 

Sundance 2023 Delivers an Aura of Studio Excitement and Powerful Films

Ben Friedman

Now following the success of CODA, the 2023 Sundance Film Festival became the topic of far greater anticipation. Given that Apple paid 25 million dollars for the rights to release CODA on its streaming service, film studios responded by bringing deep pockets to this year’s festival. Many of the festival’s popular entries such as Flora and Son and Fair Play sold as high as $20 million to Apple and Netflix, respectively.

When It Comes to Gen-Z Appeal, Film Studio A24 Understands the Assignment

Ben Friedman

No film exemplifies these values better than this year’s Everything Everywhere All At Once. Starring Michelle Yeoh, the film follows a middle-aged woman running a laundromat who discovers the existence of a multiverse filled with thousands of versions of herself. It explores Asian-American identity and serves as a parable of the immigrant experience. Critically and commercially acclaimed, the film has proven an enormous success for A24 -- becoming the studio’s first film to gross over 100 million at the box office – and landing Golden Globe Awards for Yeoh and Ke Huy Quan.

The Golden Globes Are Back….What Now?

Forrest Hartman

It's hard to pinpoint why we’re here, but it does seem the cachet surrounding awards shows has decreased. This is true despite the fact that shifting distribution models have, arguably, made film awards more relevant than ever to the average viewer. Historically, one of the complaints surrounding movie awards contenders was that some of the most noteworthy pictures got outsized attention before most Americans could even see them. This remains true with select pictures, but things have improved.

‘Babylon’ Shows the Ultimate Depravity of 1920s Hollywood

Ulises Duenas

The absurdity of the scenes is often complemented by the portrayal of the characters who are deeply flawed human beings, and only have showbusiness as an outlet. Each character’s arc shows how someone’s humanity will clash with the hungry beast that is Hollywood, and Manny’s transformation in particular illustrates this. He becomes Americanized and swallowed by the system as he falls in love with Hollywood and adopts its shallow norms, while his cultural identity is slowly eroded away. 

‘Bros’ and the Legacy of Gay Cowboy Movies

Angelo Franco

Yes, Parting Glances dealt with AIDS and that can be a downer (another AIDS movie!?). But Parting Glances had the incredible bravery of existing in the mid-80s, having a frank depiction of AIDS and its effect at the height of the pandemic and in the face of the Reagan administration’s inaction: only five months prior to its release, Reagan finally said the acronym AIDS. It’s a bittersweet rom-com gorgeously written and directed by Bill Sherwood, a gay man himself who would die of AIDS before he could make another film.

Oscars Brouhaha: Will Smith Crossed the Line

Forrest Hartman

One can endlessly debate whether Rock went too far or if Smith’s actions seem like that of an unhinged lunatic or a protective husband. What I haven’t seen is much talk about how the conversation might differ if the demographics of those involved in the altercation were changed. I believe that discussion is fundamental in an era defined by the #MeToo and #BlackLivesMatter movements.

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