By James Powers Contains Mild Spoilers The South Korean film Parasite, this year’s winner of the Cannes Palme d’Or, is full of striking imagery. Unexpected but trenchant symbolism keeps cropping up in this film that might, at first glance, seem to be relatively grounded in realism. But one particular shot, about two-thirds of the way …
Nothing to Fear but Fear ITself
– By James Powers – Spoilers below for both It and It Chapter Two Many accusations can be leveled against Stephen King as a storyteller, but dullness is not one of them. Despite the very R-rated content of much of his work, there’s a certain childlike exuberance to the way he invents bonkers scenarios …
You Can’t Find Yourself By Yourself: Reflections on a Decade of Bon Iver
– By James Powers – The winter of 2006 found young Wisconsinite Justin Vernon in a decidedly bad mood. His longtime band had fizzled out after a failed attempt to put down roots in Raleigh. He was recovering from a particularly painful breakup. He’d blown a bunch of money on online poker. And on top …
Lions and Hedgehogs and Cats, Oh Yikes!
– By James Powers – It’s been a few weeks, so by now most of us have probably forgotten about the profound weirdness of Universal’s trailer for its upcoming big-screen treatment of Cats. But I haven’t forgotten. No, I refuse to forget; in fact, I’ve been thinking about it this whole time. There’s more to unpack …
Catholic Filmmakers, LGBT Representation, and Bridging the Cultural Rift
– By James Powers – This weekend sees the conclusion of what is probably one of the largest niche film festivals in the nation. LA’s Outfest, which began last Thursday and continues through Sunday, showcases a panoply of films made by and about people across the LGBT spectrum, attracts around 40,000 attendees each year, and …
Complacency Killed the Cat: Why the Pixar We Grew Up With Is Gone
– By James Powers – There was a tweet or something making the rounds a few years ago, after Pixar released Inside Out, that pithily summed up the story trajectory of the studio’s films. It went something like this: 1995: What if toys had feelings? (Toy Story) 1998: What if bugs had feelings? (A Bug’s …
Why Stranger Things 3 Was a Letdown For Me
– By James Powers – It took a little while for me to jump on the Stranger Things bandwagon when the first season came out three years ago. I remember thinking the title sequence was a slam-dunk when I first saw it. With its brooding synth score and imitation optical typography, it captured the retro …
A24’s Secret Sauce for Film Marketing
– By James Powers – Back when Avengers: Endgame came out, I published a long rant about how movies like it – massive “event” films with astronomical budgets and correspondingly astronomical audiences – have essentially become the new business model for wide-release theatrical features. In this day and age, a theatrical film that hopes to …
Fate and Free Will in Netflix’s ‘Dark’
– By James Powers – Editor’s Note: Potential Spoilers Below for Season 1 of ‘Dark’ Most of us have probably had the freaky experience, in some high school world lit class, of reading Sophocles’ play Oedipus Rex. In case you don’t remember, that’s the one in which the doomed protagonist tries and fails to avoid …