Suffering in Silents: Two 1922 Melodramas from Frank Borzage
Frank Borzage, king of silent film melodrama, shows how it’s done with Back Pay‘s tale of redemption and the James Oliver Curwood-inspired The Valley of Silent Men.
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‘John Wick: Chapter 4’ Goes Down Shooting
Despite an egregious running time and padded plot, the (maybe) conclusion to Keanu Reeves’ series, John Wick: Chapter 4, still serves up some of the original’s delightful weirdness.
‘Secret of the Incas’ Is Finally Exhumed from Hollywood’s Tomb
The 1954 Hollywood adventure film Secret of the Incas may have a whiff of Indiana Jones about it to contemporary viewers, but it’s better than expected for a film that’s almost been buried in a tomb.
Post-Apocalyptic ‘The Last of Us’ Begs the Question – Do We Ever Learn?
The characters in Craig Mazin’s hit series, The Last of Us, are just like the rest of us – violent, tyrannical, and on the verge of being irredeemable. Yet we hope for them, still.
Film-Noir ‘Peking Express’ Is Hollywood’s First Encounter with Red China
The 1951 film-noir Peking Express (not to be confused with Shanghai Express) should be seen as Hollywood’s first attempt to deal with Communist China in the context of the Red Scare.
‘The Silent Enemy’ Raises Issues of Native American Identity
The gorgeously shot 1930 ethnography, ‘The Silent Enemy’, depicts the life of an Ojibway tribe long before the advent of European explorers and settlers.
‘Venom: Let There Be Carnage’ Should Have Cut the Carnage
Little did the filmmakers behind Ruben Fleischer’s Venom know that Carnage would become a poisonous burden to Andy Serkis’ sequel, Venom: Let There Be Carnage.
Asian Representation in ‘Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings’
Marvel Studios’ Shang-Chi and the Legend of Ten Rings tries to recontextualize its stereotypical origins into a highly-entertaining film. Does it succeed?
Possibility-Bending: An Anarchist Critique of ‘Avatar: The Legend of Korra’
The optimism found in Avatar: The Last Airbender darkens to cynicism and violence in the follow-up series, Avatar: The Legend of Korra. Why did this happen?
‘What If…?’ Marvel Studios Tries Something Completely Different?
Marvel Studios’ What If…? on Disney+ is an intriguing animated and narrative exercise in the MCU, but why isn’t it as exciting as we anticipated?
Baby Boomer Optimism and Regret in the Star Wars Trilogies
While the original Star Wars trilogy display George Lucas’ youthful optimism, the prequels reveal his dismay and regret at the world created by the Boomer generation.
Marvel Studios ‘Black Widow’ Mishandles the MCU’s Most Popular Female Character
Marvel Studios’ Black Widow was too little, too late for the MCU’s most popular female character due partially to misogynistic business practices at Disney.
