This is an age where an R-rated movie can make north of $150 million in a weekend in the United States alone. Deadpool not only smashed countless records, but also had the highest-grossing opening weekend of any R-rated film in the United States. This massive success has fans and studios[Read More…]
Film and TV
Deadpool is a triumph for fans, a challenge for general audiences
In 2014, a short clip of Deadpool test footage was leaked on YouTube, after the character was considered too crass for movie screens. The video—which has since been deleted by 20th Century Fox—sparked a movement among fans who had been altogether disappointed by the character’s 2009 appearance in X-Men Origins:[Read More…]
Flashback: Pretty Baby (1978)
“Storyville, New Orleans, 1917.” This is the title card that opens Louis Malle’s Pretty Baby. The film tackles the scandalous topic of child prostitution in a strikingly elegant and elegiac fashion through chronicling an upscale brothel in one of New Orlean’s most notorious red-light districts. Madame Nell (Frances Faye) is[Read More…]
2016 Academy Award Predictions
For the 2016 Academy Awards the Arts and Entertainment section of the Tribune did the work for you, predicting the winners for Best Film, Best Leading Actor and Actress, Best Supporting Actor and Actress, and Film Editing. Read the reviews, rent the films, and be ready to watch the Oscars on[Read More…]
2016 Oscar Nominated Short Films: An in-depth review of the competition
Once again the world gathers to see what the pinnacle of human cinematography has to offer: The time of the Oscars are upon us. Whether or not the motion pictures presented at this year’s awards are representative of every race or ethnicity, a highly important matter in and of itself,[Read More…]
Ingrid Bergman: A captivating look into the life of one of Hollywood’s greatest stars
Ingrid Bergman: In Her Own Words, a documentary directed by Stig Björkman, honours the life and art of actress Ingrid Bergman. The film offers an inside look into the life of the Swedish actress who embodied the Golden Age of Hollywood and starred in iconic films worldwide, including Casablanca (1942)[Read More…]
Cult Mentality EP. 1: Tackling the #oscarssowhite debate
[audiotrack title=”Cult Mentality EP. 1: Tackling the #oscarssowhite debate” songwriter=”April Barrett, Selin Altuntur, and Tanveer Ahmed” date=”February 16, 2015″ width=”700″ height=”200″ src=”https://24f2041bb5b609d25f1a97039f71682cc9154421.googledrive.com/host/0B9rQxTeDv2duM0FmSjBSYkZFS1k/Oscars%20Podcast%20%28Final%29.mp3″ autoplay=”on”] This week’s Cult Mentality podcast centres on the #oscarssowhite debate. The debate arose in response to the Academy Awards’ snub of actors and filmmakers of colour year[Read More…]
Pop Dialectic: #oscarssowhite and the power of the boycott
After the nomination committee of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences once again selected a group of all-white actors for nomination at the Oscars, multiple high-profile stars of colour are preparing to boycott the awards ceremony. But should viewers boycott it too? For more, check out our new podcast,[Read More…]
Sisterly love: Mustang gives nuanced portrayal of female coming-of-age stories in patriarchal societies
Content warning: This film features elements of sexual abuse. The coming-of-age stories that frequently grace movie screens are those of teen rebellion, unrequited love, and summer adventures. Deniz Ergüven’s Oscar-nominated film Mustang contains qualities of all of these aspects, but adds nuanced maturity and an overwhelmingly poignant storyline. At the[Read More…]
Religiosity of a new ilk: The Coen brothers praise 1950s Hollywood in Hail, Caesar!
It makes sense for directors to pay homage to their industry as a whole. An entertaining romp through the Hollywood of the 1950s, Hail, Caesar! is the Coen brothers’ latest triumph, an in depth study of a single man, Eddie Mannix (Josh Brolin), a studio fixer, who works tirelessly to[Read More…]