We don’t see too many elegant movies any longer. Why is that, I ask you? Perhaps part of the problem is that the modern cinematic landscape is separated by a vast gulf. On one side are blockbusters. They’re designed to be big, loud, and appeal to anyone with a pulse and some without. On the other side lies independent film. They’re small, scrappy, and frequently made for the nichest of niche interest. As a result, there’s very little middle ground for intelligent fare made by studios for a moderate budget. Is part of the problem that modern society is dumber and coarser? That’s an easy... Read More

Wither the werewolf revolution?  For a while there, vampires were all the rage. If you wanted bloodsuckers, you had oodles of choices. The painfully emo creatures of the night in Interview With the Vampire, the rampaging hell-beasts in From Dusk Til Dawn, the Swedish nosferatu in Let the Right One In and so many more. They were an effective metaphor for fear of the AIDS crisis, otherness, and so, so many other interpretations. Then it shifted to zombies. The spectacularly humorless The Walking Dead became one of the most consequential TV shows ever. Zack Snyder’s remake of Dawn of the Dead was... Read More