By - Gareth Jones For fans of unusual 1970’s horror, “hysterical woman” and “monstrous motherhood” tropes The 70’s were an amazing time for American film.  The film student generation had been given the keys to the kingdom by the studios and independent film was alive and well.  Alice, Sweet Alice like many other genre films of that time fell in between.  It was written and directed by a former architect, […]

By - Nick Adrian For fans of religious horror, nun-spolitation, and The Omen franchise Over the last few decades, successful horror films are rarely left alone. They are typically subjected to sequels, spin-offs, remakes, and occasionally, prequels. While this has become a growing trend with most successful films, the horror genre tends to bring unlimited opportunities for its producers - despite mixed to dismal results. However, this entry is different. […]

By - Gareth Jones For fans of Julio Torres, Tilda Swinton, Surrealism and Magical Realism, Michel Gondry I was introduced to the genius of Julio Torres first by interviews with Seth Myers and then with his show on HBO Los Espookys, which also starred the hilarious Fred Armisen and Ana Fabrega.  I was fascinated by this singular comedic style, his fashion taste, and his constantly changing hair color. Surreal, deadpan, […]

By - Nick Adrian For fans of religious horror, nunsploitation, and Sydney Sweeney Of the numerous millennial/Gen Z talents sprouting up in Hollywood recently, twenty-six year old Sydney Sweeney is one of our most prolific. Breaking out in television shows such as Euphoria and The White Lotus, Sweeney is establishing herself as not only a full-fledged movie star (roles in recent films such as Anyone But You and Madame Web) […]

By - Gareth Jones For fans of vampire movies with a twist, thought-provoking questions, A few days ago, I attended a great presentation on how feminism is a powerful lens when examining international relations. As part of the presentation, the instructor asked what monster feminism would be labeled as in the world of IR.  There were several suggestions. When the instructor revealed the answer, we all had an “of course […]

By - Gareth Jones For fans of New Wave national cinemas, Senegalese film, films that push boundaries and can’t be defined In 2018, Beyonce and Jay Z incorporated images from the Senegalese film Touki Bouki into a series of photos.  This helped bring attention to this influential film, perhaps even more so than the work of Martin Scorcese. He along with the World Cinema Project helped restore it and with […]

By - Gareth Jones For fans of Cassavetes-style dramas, disabled representation, films set in Milwaukee!  Right from the start, director Kirill Mikhanovsky plunges us into the chaotic life of medical transport driver Vic (played well by Chris Galust), as he is already behind picking up and dropping off clients. His clients are people with disabilities, but on this day, he is also trying to help out his Russian grandfather and […]

By - Nick Adrian For fans of legendary sci-fi, big IMAX screens, and Denis Villeneuve Ever since its publication in 1965, filmmakers have dreamed, tried, and (for the most part) failed to adapt Frank Herbert’s massively influential science fiction novel, Dune. Alejandro Jodorowsky’s attempt to tackle the project in the 1970s never came to fruition, David Lynch’s 1984 version was a disappointment for many, and Sci-Fi Channel’s 2000 miniseries still […]

By - Gareth Jones For fans of Sylvester Stallone, the 80’s, and documentaries about iconic Hollywood legends This spring, I am teaching a War and Film class for the first time.  We have arrived at the 80’s and the representation of the Vietnam War.  There were two main war film cycles in the 80’s, on one path lay the “realism” films of Platoon, Full Metal Jacket, Hamburger HIll, and Born […]