Tag: Social Commentary

Alice Feels Uneven, But Keke Palmer Keeps the Audience Invested (Sundance Film Festival)

All Americans grow up learning that the slave trade was ended after the end of the Civil War with the passage of the slave amendments, inspired by President Abraham Lincoln’s Emancipation Proclamation. Yet, as time has gone on,…

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After Yang Contemplates Re-centering Life and What It Means to be Human (Sundance Film Festival)

“That’s such a human thing to ask. We always assume other beings would want to be human, what’s so great about being human?” After making his full length feature debut in the director’s chair for 2017’s Columbus, Kogonada…

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Fresh Feels Derivative and Heavy Handed but Still Entertains (Sundance Film Festival)

Horror films with heavy social commentary and themes have been all the rage over the past decade with some abhorring the so-called “elevated horror” tag these films have been slapped with. Fresh follows this era of horror’s styling,…

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Scream is the Perfect Bridge Between Old and New

Scream takes us back to the town of Woodsboro, CA 26 years after the brutal murders that started it all. Now, a new Ghostface killer has appeared who seems to be targeting people related to the original killers…

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The Last Duel Powerfully Probes Main Character Syndrome and When Truth Gets Subjective

Everyone has their own version of how the events in their daily lives play out. This is a natural part of the human experience, but one that has become even more prevalent in the social media age with…

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A Hero Masterfully Paints a Frustratingly True to Life Portrait of a Cynical World (Middleburg Film Festival)

Societal distrust feels as though it’s as high as it’s ever been. People analyze their neighbors in bad faith, believing the worst of them and their intentions while social media and the fourth estate itself follow suit, looking…

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Red Rocket is a Black Comedy Entertaining Enough to Mask The Stench of Its Protagonist (Middleburg Film Festival)

In life, we run into people of all varieties. Some are nicer than others, some smarter than others, but everyone just wants their piece of the pie. In chasing success, some people take a path that’s more morally…

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West Side Story’s Technical Prowess and New Generation Talent Don’t Outweigh Its Overfamiliarity

Remaking art that the public loves is always a tall task, much less when the art being reimagined is universally hailed as a classic. If anyone is capable of tackling such a challenge, it would be legendary director…

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King Richard is the Perfect Family Film and Depiction of Parental Determination (Middleburg Film Festival)

The job of a parent is to do anything they can to ensure the safety and future success of their children. In the world of entertainment, the parents who take this task to the extreme with micromanaging and…

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The Power of the Dog, the Crushing Weight of Societal Expectations (Middleburg Film Festival)

Expectations can lead many people down a path of ruin and pain. Sometimes these expectations are self inflicted, other times they come from our families, but perhaps the heaviest expectations of all are those placed upon us through…

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