Damn Fine TV/Film
The precipice separating dreams from nightmares punctuates the human experience. So often when we find ourselves embarking on something we have been hoping for or near something we've been waiting for, we enter an anxiety-ridden and stressful state, mulling over every decision that led us to the point we are about to experience. This counterintuitive …
Mudbound, nominated for Best Supporting Actress (Mary J. Blige) and Best Adapted Screenplay (among other Academy and SAG nominations), and directed by Diandrea “Dee” Rees, takes place in the heart of the American South---the Mississippi Delta---before, during, and after America’s call to war in 1941. Adapted from Hillary Jordan’s 2008 novel of the same name, …
“On-Screen, Off-Screen” is our monthly film series created to showcase a more personal retrospective about some of our favourite filmmakers. Each month, one 25YL staffer will choose one of their own favourite filmmakers—be it a director or performer or writer or composer or production designer, etc—and will analyse what it is about their on-screen work …
Continue reading "On-Screen, Off-Screen: Spielberg’s Gateway"
“Buried Treasures” is a bi-weekly film series highlighting beloved films that have been either underseen or underappreciated. Every other week, one 25YL columnist will choose a film they think is deserving of additional praise and shine a spotlight on that film. The film chosen may be one that few have heard of, or maybe it …
Let's get this straight: don't believe the noise around The Ballad of Buster Scruggs being the Coen brothers' worst. It is somewhat difficult to decide on where it lies in the work of the Coens, due to the diverse and brilliant nature of their catalogue, but I am comfortable in saying that this is easily …
Continue reading "The Ballad of Buster Scruggs: A Netflix Original Film"
Andrea Arnold exceptionally captures the reality of low-income youth and the realities that brings in her 2016 film, American Honey. Distributed by A24, American Honey follows a group of misfits who all come from the same impoverished backgrounds and are fortunate enough to have found some sense of a collective in each other, as they travel …
The idea of the live camgirl has never had much appeal to me, and so I have pretty much no experience with the world in which Cam spends so much time. Perhaps if I did, the film would have done more for me, but there are certainly elements that pertain to our online lives more broadly; …
“Buried Treasures” is a bi-weekly film series highlighting beloved films that have been either underseen or underappreciated. Every other week, one 25YL columnist will choose a film they think is deserving of additional praise and shine a spotlight on that film. The film chosen may be one that few have heard of, or maybe it …
The Other Side of the Wind, a film that took nearly 50 years to piece together, is currently streaming on Netflix. That sentence alone would be enough to make the man that made the film look at you cross-eyed, and unless you're previously acquainted with Orson Welles' work, life, and turbulent relationship with Hollywood, hearing that …
Continue reading "The Other Side of the Wind: A Netflix Original Film"
The right decision was made when the highest cinematic honor, the 2016 Academy Award, was presented to Barry Jenkins' film Moonlight. A feat in modern filmmaking, Moonlight's budget of $1.5 million made it a David amongst Goliaths. Arrival boasted a budget of $47 million, Hacksaw Ridge $40 million, and the Best Picture frontrunner, La La …