‘The Good Place’ goes from good to great in a phenomenal second season
In the second season of any show, there’s always the fear of the sophomore slump. Even the most robust and energetic series can lose momentum in its second season, after the showrunners and cast have proven themselves. Case in point: the second season of “Heroes” was catastrophic, and nearly nobody made it through the second […]
Sorkin’s directorial debut disappoints with “Molly’s Game”
Aaron Sorkin is a good writer. Maybe even a great writer—his work is certainly recognizable. Any Sorkin script—from “A Few Good Men” to “The West Wing” to “Steve Jobs”—emphasizes dialogue over just about anything else. Sorkin is known for his clever and witty dialogue which dominate his film and television projects. His dialogue is never […]
‘Call Me By Your Name” is a triumph
Beautiful. That is how to sum up Luca Guadagnino’s “Call Me By Your Name” with a single word. From the aesthetic to the score to the performances, “Call Me By Your Name” is a triumph. Set in the beautiful northern Italian countryside in 1983, “Call Me By Your Name” tells the story of Oliver, Elio […]
“Hellboy” Meets “The Help” in Guillermo Del Toro’s “Shape of Water”
In Guillermo Del Toro’s “The Shape of Water,” the camera never stops moving. Even in the seemingly conventional scenes, there’s always a subtle jitter or a slow pan. This constant motion makes for a vibrant—yet inconsistent—film that is the very embodiment of good, but not great. While Del Toro has crafted a movie that is […]
‘Justice League:’ an inoffensive mess
I am not a DC fan. Personally, I’ve always preferred Marvel comics over their older counterparts. But I’ve always respected the archetypal nature of DC heroes. Superman, Batman and Wonder Woman are larger than life, and were big well before audiences were familiar with Iron Man or Thor. DC is also (indirectly) responsible for the […]
“Lady Bird,” a movie so good it’ll make you call your parents
Greta Gerwig’s “Lady Bird” is probably not the first coming of age movie you’ve seen, but it might be the best. Clocking in at just over 90 minutes, this film is an honest, funny and sincere look at growing up, and I can’t recommend it enough. The film stars Saoirse Ronan (who recently earned an […]
Stranger Things Season Two: it’s still (probably) exactly what you want (Spoiler Free)
People want more of what they like. That’s the clear trend in pop culture today: Audiences want more of what they already know fits their taste. We see it in movies, where every successful blockbuster seems to be a reboot or a sequel. We see it in music: The last few years of Bruno Mars’ […]
Colin Jost charms parents and students alike with a solid set
I’ll admit, I’m not the biggest Colin Jost fan. Since gaining a spot on Saturday Night Live’s “Weekend Update” in 2014, Jost has struggled to exude the charisma so many comedians have so easily (looking at you, Kate McKinnon). There’s nothing particularly offensive about Jost, but nothing particularly funny, either. In the past few years […]
Netflix’s ‘Mindhunter:’ less than the sum of its parts
Netflix has a lot of original shows, so many that it’s getting hard to keep track. Sure, everybody has heard of the hits “Stranger Things,” “Master of None” and their gritty Marvel dramas, but a lot of shows end up falling through the cracks. Take the Jason Bateman passion project “Ozark,” or Netflix’s latest prestige […]
T.V.’s best drama returns as ‘Mr. Robot’ enters its third season
When it comes to “Mr. Robot,” my objectivity has been compromised. But then again, that’s kind of the point of the show. If my headline didn’t give it away, I absolutely adore USA’s highbrow hacker drama, which returned for it’s third season last Wednesday. Go watch it. “Mr. Robot” isn’t perfect, but with a strong […]
Brandeisians tackle Kafka in stunning adaptation of ‘The Metamorphosis’
“When Gregor Samsa woke up one morning from unsettling dreams, he found himself changed in his bed into a monstrous vermin.” That’s the first line of Franz Kafka’s deeply unsettling 1915 masterpiece novella, “The Metamorphosis.” As the first line and the title elude, the story follows a down-on-his-luck salesman who—somehow—gets transformed into a gigantic insect. […]
Kingsman: The Golden Circle is a messy, gilded sequel that’s still pretty entertaining
It’s cliche at this point to dismiss a sequel as being “not as good as the first one.” However, in this case, it’s also the truth. The follow up to 2015’s massive sleeper hit “Kingsman: The Secret Service,” its follow-up, “The Golden Circle” is almost as big of a disappointment as its predecessor was a […]
Summer movie recap: a quality paradox
Now that Labor Day is in the rear-view mirror, it’s time we talk about the 2017 summer movie season. The 2017 summer box office is a bit of a paradox. You’ve probably heard by now that this was the worst summer for Hollywood in the past decade, in terms of the cumulative total amount of […]
In “Good Time” Robert Pattinson proves his worth in this intense crime thriller
“Good Time” is a film that requires a bit of a preface. It isn’t a movie you’ve heard of. It isn’t a particularly pleasant or crowd pleasing film. Honestly, “Good Time” isn’t a good time. I can’t say I loved it, but in a summer dominated by duds like the fifth “Transformers” and the fifth […]
Flower Boy: Tyler the Creator continues to break the mold on his first truly excellent album
There’s been no shortage of great music in summer 2017. In June, Jay-Z released his groundbreakingly personal “4:44,” and shortly after, Lorde exploded back into our eardrums with the excellent “Melodrama.” But for me, the standout of the summer has to be Tyler the Creator’s “Flower Boy,” an album that finds the 26-year-old rapper finally […]
The conundrum of Frank Ocean’s ‘Endless’
Being a Frank Ocean fan can be confusing. After the release of the electric (but overly reliant on samples) mixtape “Nostalgia Ultra” in 2011 and his debut R&B masterpiece “Channel Orange” in 2012, Ocean retreated from the public eye—aggressively. He declined interviews, was not performing and refrained from any presence on traditional social media; Ocean’s […]
Kendrick Lamar’s ‘DAMN.’ is a blunt instrument
Kendrick Lamar’s fourth studio album “DAMN.” dropped about two weeks ago, and that seems like almost enough time to be able to talk about it. Long story short, I don’t think it’s as good as Kendrick’s prior release, “To Pimp a Butterfly,” but I feel it’s a better record than “Good Kid, M.A.A.D City.” Dubbing […]
Artist Cullen Washington Jr. breaches the abstract
Cullen Washington Jr. is interested in contrast. As the prolific professional artist summarized his career in a visit to Brandeis on Tuesday, March 28, a fixation on contrast emerged throughout. Washington started turning heads for his skills at age nine, making the front page of his local paper, beneath a headline on the escalating tensions […]
‘Iron Fist’ a show that feels like being punched in the chest
A few weeks ago, the first reviews of “Iron Fist” were released, and they were not positive. Though critics praised other Netflix and Marvel collaborations such as “Daredevil” and “Luke Cage” and lauded “Jessica Jones,” “Iron Fist” received a much more tepid reaction. When asked about the poor response to the show, star Finn Jones […]
Jordan Peele’s ‘Get Out’ impresses in a stunning directorial debut
Somewhere between their second and third season, Keegan-Michael Key and Jordan Peele’s “Key and Peele” exploded in popularity. Legendary sketches like the “East/West College Bowl,” “Obama’s Anger Translator” and, of course, “Substitute Teacher” succeeded in capturing the zeitgeist in a way that few sketch shows ever do. But by seasons four and five, it was […]
