I tend to get around to watching certain films months, even years, after their release, even if they’ve been highly recommended to me. They go on my queue and then get moved around time and again until I finally give [...]

Do you remember a time when Nicolas Cage was not a caricature? Think hard.  I know you can do it.  You might have to scroll back through some of Cage’s screen credits on IMDb to refresh your memory, but there [...]

Sunday was Peter Cushing’s birthday.  Yesterday was the birthday of two other horror greats whose names are still coupled with Cushing: Vincent Price and Christopher Lee. Lee is the only one still living, and at 91 the man decided to [...]

I have many mixed feelings about what I’m about to say, so bear with me. I went a very traditional route when it came to my approach to film.  Classes in undergrad that turned to a Masters degree at NYU [...]

If you’re an American, and you went to high school, chances are that you had to read The Great Gatsby. I don’t mean that you actually read The Great Gatsby – but you at least had the book, perhaps, with [...]

I do not spend every waking moment thinking about how much I hate Shia LaBeouf.  While he occupies a very special place in my psyche, in reality I only spend about 10% of my time in a vitriolic stupor.  The [...]

Like most white middle-class American human beings my age, Disney was a major force in my childhood.  I had my first moment of abject terror (Maleficent), was obsessed with my first movie (Lady and the Tramp), developed my first crushes [...]

I have lived on the fence about 3D ever since … well, since Avatar.  The film was spectacular from a technical standpoint – it was bright and shiny and very pretty to look at and did some remarkable things with [...]

“Lauren, why do you hate Shia LaBeouf?” Oh, imaginary composite of  many friends, what a complex and difficult question.  This little space is insufficient for a full explanation as to why I hate Shia LaBeouf (and, in fact, I have [...]

*Warning: Definitely gets political. Apologies. Movies provide us with a visceral and emotional experience.  We become emotionally invested in the characters, sometimes to such a degree that we cry for their losses and their gains, that we’re touched by their [...]