Ryan Gosling lost his way in "Lost River"
June 13, 2015
Ryan Gosling’s directorial debut has received a lot of vitriol from critics and bloggers. It’s currently sitting on Rotten Tomatoes with a whopping 29% from critics. When it debuted at Cannes, it was booed. (Also, what is up with Cannes audiences and their predisposition to booing?)
I’ve read review after review lamenting Gosling’s use of homage-on-the-verge-of-plagiarism, his lack of distinct style, and his pandering to the arthouse crowd. Lost River has been made out to be an abomination in some film circles. Is it sometimes painful? Sometimes too obvious? Sometimes filled with cringe-worthy pandering? Yes. Yes. Yes. But it’s also a noble effort, one that hints at Gosling’s potential, albeit leaving much to be desired.
Dark Star: H. R. Giger’s World
May 14, 2015
One year ago this month, the iconic sci-fi artist, H.R. Giger, passed away. Undoubtedly his legacy will live on, not only as the creator of the Alien, but also as the preeminent producer of biomechanical art. Filmmaker Belinda Sallin’s Dark Star: H.R. Giger’s World is a stunning tribute to the man and his work. Premiering only months after Giger passed away, the film explores the totality of Giger’s life and work in a way few documentaries are able to do. Unlike posthumous documentaries, Dark Star exists in a definitive and finite atmosphere starring the subject himself.
Professional hoax-busters on Planned Parenthood, anti-vaxxers, and the disinformation age
September 28, 2015
In today’s fast-paced news culture, misinformation and disinformation are spread with a click, often before authenticity and credibility are verified. Sometimes it's harmless and funny, like The Onion fooling Fox News. But in other cases, this type of behavior is not only irresponsible but also incredibly dangerous. To understand this culture of deception, I gathered four experts on hoaxes, falsehoods, rumors and pseudoscience.
Film Review: Spring Breakers
March 03, 2013
Well, Harmony Korine is at again, only this time he’s moved from one cinematic extreme to another. In contrast to the brash, VHS filming of Trash Humpers, Spring Breakers is a tour-de-force of vibrancy and hyper-stylized cinematography. The dreamy narration and constant non-linear editing seems a throwback to his Gummo days – only Gummo's raw grit and dirtiness is replaced with saturated colors and beautiful people; both films being equally repulsive and compelling.