Stipulated: The Armenian genocide, in which some 1.5 million Armenians were murdered by the Ottoman government (we call it Turkey now) between 1915 and 1922, is underrepresented in history books and in popular culture. Among 20th-century holocausts, it takes a backseat to the capital-H one in terms of size, scope, and worldwide societal impact. More […]
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Early on in two recent horror films from debut directors — Get Out and Raw — we are treated to individual takes on what has been a trope of the genre for some time now: the out-of-nowhere, car-swerves-to-avoid-an-animal-in-the-road jump scare. The ubiquity of this scene has made it something of an eye-roller; whenever we watch […]
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“I wouldn’t argue that it was a no-holds-barred, adrenaline-fueled thrill ride, but there’s no way you could perpetrate that amount of carnage and mayhem and not incur a considerable amount of paperwork.” In the spring of 2007, Edgar Wright’s follow-up to his debut feature Shaun of the Dead arrived in the States via a most […]
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The Fate of the Furious opens this weekend, and while reviews have been mixed it’s safe to say the film continues the trend of this being the most absurd and unlikely franchise since Police Academy’s eight-film reign. The Fast movies found their second wind after shifting from street racing to ridiculous action and heists, so […]
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The most prominent theme in the Fast and the Furious movies isn’t family (they didn’t come up with that until a few sequels in) but conciliation. Enemies who aren’t killed often become friends in the next chapter, their former misdeeds evidently forgiven and forgotten. I suspect this is due more to narrative convenience than any overarching […]
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In case you missed it, the new Spider-Man: Homecoming trailer dropped recently, and it looks insane! As with any Marvel movie, the trailer is filled with Easter Eggs that I’m betting even hardcore Spidey fans may not have picked up on. Let’s take a deep dive and explore what the new trailer tells us about […]
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(Editor’s note: Please enjoy this transparent attempt to get traffic by combining two of the Internet’s favorite things. There’s plenty more where this came from!) Which Disney Princesses Would the ‘Fast and the Furious’ Movies Be? The Fast and the Furious = Snow White Every cultural movement has to begin somewhere. Sometimes, as in the case of […]
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For close to 90 years, the world of pop culture has been influenced by four brothers from New York. Their look has sold millions of “nose glasses” and novelty wigs. Their faces have graced the walls of movie theaters, been spray-painted onto walls, and turned into shirts and posters. They’ve shown up in cartoons, comic […]
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What kind of lazy, lowest-common-denominator movie is Going in Style? The kind where the one F-word in the script is delivered gratuitously by an old lady who has no other lines, and it’s supposed to be hilarious because she’s an old lady. An old lady who says the F-word! Why, next thing you know she’ll […]
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The last few years have seen the intriguing rise of a niche market in theatrical film releases: the Christian film. Made for and marketed explicitly to white Christian conservatives, films like Heaven is for Real, God’s Not Dead and The Shack have found surprising popularity with their target audiences, despite critical derision. With the upcoming […]
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Whether it’s a high-speed foot chase in an action movie, a contemplative character-building jog, or triumphant track-and-field accomplishments in films like Chariots of Fire and Prefontaine, running has long been a part of films. There’s something inherently cinematic to the act of running – it lends a sense of kinetic urgency to action sequences, or […]
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Many hours of scientific research have yielded the following data, suitable for citation in academic journals. Speculation as to what any of these “sex moves” would entail is beyond the scope of our project and frankly not suitable for serious scholarly discussion. The Greasy Strangler The Constant Gardener The Sting The Iceman Cometh The Distinguished […]
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