As one of the most notorious female characters in the world of DC Comics, Harley Quinn is often seen as the right-hand woman of the Joker. The newest film in the DC Extended Universe Birds of Prey (And the Fantabulous Emancipation of One Harley Quinn)…
Robert Bilott, a 1987 graduate of New College and member of the New College Alumni Association Board of Directors, has been regarded on Twitter as a “real-life superhero” by actor Mark Ruffalo. Ruffalo plays Bilott in the new legal thriller “Dark Waters,” based on the…
A story about a shape-shifting, child-eating clown demands some degree of suspension of disbelief, but there still needs to be believability within the plot. On Friday Sept. 6, director Andy Muschietti’s film It Chapter Two was released, and it was simply okay. Pop-culture’s 30-year cycle…
"Black Panther" took audiences on a journey to the nation of Wakanda, portraying its hidden technological advancements seamlessly intermingled into an urban, African space complete with bright costuming and breathtaking scenery. Set against this background was inclusive and intriguing fight scenes, which did not consist of…
Cara Buckley, in their article on the “The Florida Project” for the New York Times (NYT) uses the inappropriate adjective “vituperative”--it means bitter and abusive--for one of the main characters, a mother named Halley played by Bria Vinaite. This word choice exemplifies exactly the…
SUBMITTED BY DYLAN PRYOR Marvel’s latest film plays to the franchise’s strengths with a character-driven ensemble story that both satisfyingly completes a near flawless trilogy for one of its flagship characters, and begins a new chapter for almost every hero introduced in the films…
SUBMITTED BY DAVID CANFIELD There’s an exhilarating combination of empathy and contempt in “Hail, Caesar!,” the latest comic concoction from Joel and Ethan Coen. Immersed in the day-to-day of a Hollywood studio in the 1950s, the film follows the travails of Eddie Mannix (Josh…
SUBMITTED BY DAVID CANFIELD “Steve Jobs” fails to follow through on an implicit bargain. The biopic is constructed with idiosyncratic rigidity, but its unusual three-act structure – which goes from product launch to product launch to product launch, spanning 14 years – eventually turns…
“The Babadook” One of the most interesting and original horror films in the past decade, “The Babadook” is sure to keep you on the edge of your seat throughout its entirety. The story follows Amelia, a single mother, and her son Samuel as…
SUBMITTED BY DAVID CANFIELD “Grandma” opens on a break-up. Reeling from the loss of her partner of many decades, Elle (Lily Tomlin) lashes out at her younger girlfriend, Olivia (Judy Greer). She says their four months together meant “nothing.” She calls her “a footnote.” She…
