Even when they lack blood, guts, slashers, or ghouls, some movies feature topics that can serve as their own brand of horror. Often, this horror derives from versions of the human condition that are both extreme, and yet frighteningly common and […]

If you haven’t realized it yet, Toy Story is a rip off. Granted, it’s a touching, practically perfect one, but nonetheless, Toy Story’s heart is ripped from another timeless tale about toys: The Velveteen Rabbit. In it, a toy rabbit seeks to become […]

If you haven’t noticed from the increase in beer, online gaming, and ESPN workplace commercials, it’s Football Season! For socially conscious football lovers, this kickoff can reap a concoction of emotions more complex than a Belichick offensive play. Last year’s […]

Sometimes a main character’s success is contingent on being surrounded by equally successful supporting characters. Sometimes the best character in film history is made all the more unforgettable by amazing supporting characters. It’s not hard to find a movie that […]

2009’s Fish Tank, starring newbie Katie Jarvis is an undeniably assertive drama about the role that power and exploitation plays in a young woman’s life. The film’s 15 year old protagonist, Mia, opens the story by convening an admirable toughness […]

Movie characters can be molded and shaped by a number of factors: source material, the aura of the actor playing the character, and the tone and style of the plot itself. Directors can also strongly affect the type of character […]

All movie failures can be summarized as a failure to achieve an intention, usually meaning one of two things: 1) a movie failed to be entertaining at all, on a fun, intellectual or emotional level, or 2), the movie had […]

Do a search for “movie spy gadgets” and you’ll pull up a list of the very best tools used by the very best secret agents in the biz. Most of the film canon’s best heroes have some sort of invention […]

It’s apparent enough that across the board, equality doesn’t exist for women in the job market (just look at the wage gap). However, this truth is even more evident in certain fields of work, which last year’s gem, In A World, […]

Ringing in another year (for this writer) generally makes me reflective on life itself and how people relate to each other. That may sound like this column’s focus each week, but this birthday week was an excuse to continue that […]