Home - Crooked Marquee

The Latest

The Strange Case of Dana Carvey, Leading Man

Mar 27th, 2020 Bill Bria

Typecasting is a dirty word for many performers, especially an actor. It implies that their abilities are limited to a small number of roles, when most decent actors have the range to play a wide variety of parts. Yet there’s always the “business” part of show business to consider, and...

Movies

Review: Vivarium

Mar 26th, 2020Peg Aloi

An eerily prescient expression of our current “sheltering in place” reality, Vivarium is a clever, deeply disturbing speculative fiction. Its stylized visuals and innovative special effects are icing on this cloying cake about living in close...

Movies

Review: Resistance

Mar 26th, 2020Kristy Puchko

Good intentions do not a good movie make. While the true story behind the World War II drama Resistance is inspiring, the film itself is meandering, bizarre, and ultimately underwhelming. Written and directed by Jonathan Jakubowicz, Resistance...

The Social (and Political) Thrills of <i>With A Friend Like Harry</i>

Looking Back

The Social (and Political) Thrills of With A Friend Like Harry

Mar 25th, 2020Kendahl Cruver

With a Friend Like Harry (2000) is in essence a thriller, but it chills with the creeping dread of a horror film. This tightly-plotted, slightly surreal French production has unfortunately slipped gently into obscurity. Twenty years after its...

Watch This

Watch This: Blow the Man Down

Mar 24th, 2020Abby Olcese

When considering your viewing options during an extended period stuck at home, a strange kind of freedom emerges. Usually weeknights and weekends are precious enough that when you’re deciding what to watch, you want to stick with known...

VODepths

VODepths: What to See (and Avoid) On Demand This Month

Mar 23rd, 2020Josh Bell

Every month, there are dozens of movies released to VOD and streaming that barely make a dent in the pop-culture consciousness, but represent an entire world of cinema just outside (or sometimes far outside) the mainstream. There’s a lot of trash...

Movies

In Defense of the Modern Late Winter Horror Film

Mar 20th, 2020Justin Jones

It’s October. The first trailer for a movie drops, and a journalist whom the studio provided free travel, dinner, and set visits proclaims it ‘The scariest movie since last year.’ All other press is embargoed until release day, when the film...

Looking Back

Looking Back at the ‘90s Erotic Thriller Feminism of Kathryn Bigelow’s Blue Steel

Mar 19th, 2020Roxana Hadadi

Blue Steel feels like an overlooked entry in Kathryn Bigelow’s filmography. It doesn’t have the online appeal of Point Break, from which Keanu Reeves and Patrick Swayze gifs populate Twitter timelines. It doesn’t have the history-making...

Movies

George Romero: Prophet of the Pandemic

Mar 18th, 2020Peg Aloi

The central metaphor of "zombie apocalypse" cinematic narratives is the "rising up" of beings signifying "The Other" and their aggressive urge to destroy people in their protected shelters (homes and businesses). Romero did this first, and did it...

Watch This

Watch This: A Hidden Life, Stargirl

Mar 17th, 2020Abby Olcese

Since the quick escalation of response to the Coronavirus pandemic, it’s become almost cliche to talk about what you’re streaming these days. However, the point remains: we’re all stuck inside right now. Finding something new and interesting...