Tag: review
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The Oresteia: Justice, Revenge, and Societal Order
Aeschylus’s The Oresteia is a foundational text in Western literature. Written in Greece in the 5th century B.C.E., the trilogy grapples with fundamental questions about justice, revenge, and the role of law in society. Comprising Agamemnon, The Libation Bearers, and The Eumenides, the plays are set in the aftermath of the Trojan War and explore the transition from a world…
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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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The Many Faces of Forgiveness in Shrinking
Apple TV’s Shrinking balances comedy with deep emotional truths. At its core, the series explores grief, centering on therapist Jimmy Laird (Jason Segel) as he and his daughter Alice (Lukita Maxwell) struggle with the loss of Jimmy’s wife and Alice’s mother, Tia. But as the series progresses, another crucial theme takes center stage—the role of forgiveness in…
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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,…
The Curated Life Worth Reading 