Tag: film
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Captain America: Brave New World—A Superhero Film with Political Weight
I typically don’t start posts with a spoiler warning, but since Captain America: Brave New World (2025; Dir. Onah) is still new, I’ll note that while I’ll keep spoilers to a minimum, some are unavoidable. Brave New World arrives at a time of peak superhero fatigue, with critics eager to dismiss it. Yet, while the film isn’t groundbreaking,…
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The Name of the Rose: Libraries, Censorship, and the Fear of Laughter
The Name of the Rose (1986; dir. Annaud) is a multinational production starring Sean Connery. The film is an adaptation of Umberto Eco’s debut novel of the same name. Eco was a professor of semiotics, a medievalist, and a philosopher who held academic positions at several American and Italian universities throughout his prolific career. I…
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What World War Z Teaches Us About Global Responsibility
When World War Z (2013; dir. Forster) hit theaters, I was expecting a typical zombie movie that would quickly fade from memory. Instead, it’s a film I’ve found myself returning to several times over the last decade. The movie also inspired me to listen to the audiobook by Max Brooks, which features a fantastic voice cast. Though…
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Godzilla Minus One: Theory, Strategy, and the Philosophy of Uncertainty
When Godzilla Minus One (2023; dir. Takashi Yamazaki) dropped, it rejuvenated the most venerated kaiju after he had been brought to a new low by several schlocky American Godzilla stories like Godzilla vs. Kong. Minus One did this through its unique styling, bringing the story back to post-WWII Japan, and, most importantly, by putting forth a heartfelt story revolving…
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Horror Double Feature—The Cure and The Wailing
Japanese and Korean cinema have delivered some of the most haunting and thought-provoking horror films in global cinema. Two standout examples, The Cure (1997; dir. Kiyoshi Kurosawa) from Japan and The Wailing (2016; dir. Na Hong-jin) from South Korea, represent the pinnacle of their respective traditions. Both films explore violence, belief, and the unknown, but their narrative structure, style,…
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Despair, Morality, Redemption, and Forgiveness: A Comparison of Bad Lieutenant: Port of Call New Orleans and Bicycle Thieves
At first glance, the feverish Bad Lieutenant: Port of Call New Orleans (2009; dir. Herzog) and the neorealist masterpiece Bicycle Thieves (1948; dir. De Sica) couldn’t seem more different. One is a wild, chaotic exploration of a cop’s descent into corruption and madness; the other, a restrained and heartbreaking portrait of a father and husband…
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The Twilight Saga (2008-2012; dirs. Hardwicke, Weitz, Slade, & Condon)
Though I tried watching the first installment of this series in 2009 or 2010, I fell asleep during it and never went back. I decided to watch the whole series for one reason, the Instagram memes made these movies seem too funny to miss. In the end, I’m glad I watched them with a more…
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Comparing Ran (1985; dir. Akira Kurosawa) with Throne of Blood (1957; dir. Akira Kurosawa)
Ran has always been on my radar but I never got motivated enough to watch it before this week. The reasons I would want to watch it are straightforward and of obvious appeal to me, it’s a Jidaegeki (i.e., Japanese period piece) featuring samurai, directed by Akira Kurosawa and typically considered one of his best…
The Curated Life Worth Reading 