Review: "Ready Player One"

by Chris Feil

The pairing of godfather of contemporary pop culture Steven Spielberg with a film adaptation of Ernest Cline’s reference heavy Ready Player One sounds like one that would fit like a glove. Cline’s novel has great reverence for the Spielberg canon, not to mention a wide-ranging affection for video games, cinema, and general geekery that is greatly indebted to him as one of our greatest storytellers. The chance for the legend to riff on the likes of John Hughes and Robert Zemeckis already carries a bit of whimsy, an acknowledgement of the type of now omnipresent fan culture that he laid the groundwork for. Don’t forget Spielberg was the original movie nerd, and the opportunity to play with some of his own inspirations like King Kong should naturally allow him to approach the material with necessary affection.

But this perfectly-fit glove turns out to be an inside-out rubber one that’s spent the day scrubbing an ancient multiplex floor, and it’s our hands that end up covered in junk...

Click to read more ...

James Ivory & the controversy that won't go away!

by Murtada

If you thought that after the Oscars you’d never hear about Call Me By Your Name, think again. The movie is now out on DVD but that is not why it’s in the headlines once again. Oscar winning screenwriter James Ivory would just not let his displeasure with the non-nudity in the film die. We are all for a true legend like Ivory to say whatever the fuck he wants, whenever he wants. So we are all in for his recent interview that's making the rounds now.

In the CMBYN cultural wars of last Oscar season there are two camps. The first think that it lessens the power of its story by shying away from explicit nudity in its sex scenes. The second think that was the right aesthetic choice for the story and that the film is not “coy” because it shows Armie Hammer wiping cum from his chest. This is a short and reductive way of briefly explaining the different POVs; each camp of course has more nuance...

Click to read more ...

Soundtracking: "The Royal Tenenbaums"

by Chris Feil

Among the many stylistic things Wes Anderson is known for, his music choices are among his most distinct. Each of his films blend an inventive original score with folk-tinged rock and roll (not to mention occasionally too-hip-for-school posturing) to create a fairy tale all his own. Perhaps the most beloved of all of his musical assemblages is The Royal Tenenbaums, a dorm room staple ranging from The Clash to Van Morrison.

And the film begins with one of his most beloved sequences, musical or not: a prologue detailing the Tenenbaum family history set to an instrumental take on “Hey Jude.” Sequence and song are alike: undercut with pain yet too sweet for this world and ultimately quite moving....

Click to read more ...

Merch Madness: Actress Edition

Seán here with a little bit of fun. Cynthia Nixon was blessed to be a called an "unqualified lesbian" last week, and is now dropping some of this dank dope cool merch to raise money for her campaign for Governer of New York.

And while Miranda was swapping brunch for nutritious lunches in our public schools - I couldn't help but wonder: what is some of the best and truly worst actress-centred merchandise out there in the swamp we lovingly know as Etsy? From the brilliant Girls on Tops to something a little bit more, um... interesting.

I never had to google "Meryl Streep merchandise" before, but I'm glad I did. Share your finds in the comments.

They Found Someone: Stephanie J. Block to Play Cher

By Spencer Coile 

Renowned (and Tony nominated) for The Mystery of Edwin Drood and for "breaking down" in Falsettos,  and for playing Liza Minnelli in the Hugh Jackman musical The Boy From Oz, theater star Stephanie J. Block is about to add another iconic character to her repertoire: Cher. The Cher Show, which will be penned by Jersey Boys writer Rick Elice, will tell the story of pop singer and Academy Award winning actress throughout her career...

Click to read more ...