I recently watched The Truman Show for the first time in at least eight years. Just as when I was a kid, I loved the weird “what if '' type plot and Jim Carry’s ~quirky~ everyman persona. However, in this watch-through, I noticed a lot of things I missed as a child, significantly, the film’s major themes of consumerism and capitalism and the larger implications of the story beyond just the pitfalls of reality TV.
While sitting in my Tallahassee apartment, incense burning, lights cut out, I learned that Tom Hanks’ wife died. Not in real life, but in the 1993 romantic comedy, Sleepless in Seattle. Hanks’ character, Chicago architect Sam Baldwin, tells his coworker he needs “a real change, a new city. A place where every time I go around a corner I don’t think of Maggie.” At this point, I’m screaming at my laptop: “SEATTLE! SEATTLE!” Finally, he utters the three syllable names of that majestic, rainy city. The movie begins.
Bobby Bowden was “one of a kind” in every sense of those words. A devoted father, a winning coach, and a man focused on everyone but himself, Bobby left an impact on every community he joined. When Coach Bowden took charge of the 1976 Florida State football team, he arrived to a team with a cumulative record of four wins and twenty-nine losses over the past three seasons, which he had to repair. In the first year, the Seminoles had a five-win and six-loss record. That was Coach Bowden’s only losing season.
If you were a teen or pre-teen from 2008-2012, then you are no stranger to The Twilight Saga and the cultural impact that Bella Swan (Kristen Stewart), Edward Cullen (Robert Pattinson), and Jacob Black (Taylor Lautner) had on our generation. After Netflix released the entire Twilight saga this in July, I knew I would have to revisit the series to see if it held up to the standards that we set for the films back in 2011. I did just that, and after devoting another 607 minutes of my life to Twilight, I had no regrets. Unsurprisingly, the films were just how I remembered. However, now that I’m older, I noticed a lot of things I hadn’t picked up on before or had forgotten, most notably, the abundance of lip bites and strange glares from Kristen Stewart. It’s this, along with the sometimes cringe-worthy acting and confusing love triangle throughout the series that make the movies so meme-able and relevant in contemporary pop culture. The awkward moments, like how the vampires act when exposed to human blood, are the moments you can’t help but laugh at, which is why I think the Twilight movies are some of the greatest bad movies of all time.
Throughout film history, women have been portrayed as overemotional, controlling, and fragile people. In classic horror films, these ideas are reinforced through violence against women and hyperemotional reactions that are often sexualized. Across the horror genre and media in general, women work well as monsters when responding to imposed stereotypes of manipulation, assertive behavior, uncontrollable emotions, and fragility. They are also often victimized in the horror genre, which creates the narrative that women need to get revenge in some way.
Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings, Marvel’s second film to release exclusively in theaters since the beginning of the pandemic, has already shattered records, quickly becoming a huge box-office success. The film is already the number one highest-grossing film of 2021, making over $320 million in profits. While at this point, it is no surprise to see Marvel doing these kinds of numbers, it is definitely worth noting that Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings is the first MCU film since 2019’s Captain Marvel where the main premise is the introduction of a new Superhero. Marvel has obviously released multiple shows and films since, but most have continued the stories of pre-established characters. And with Captain Marvel being one of the least popular MCU films, there has been a real question as to whether or not Marvel is still able to deliver complete, authentic, and unique origin stories. Desperately trying to walk the fence between giving audiences the story of a character’s iconic journey to Heroism without being repetitive or formulaic. Which has always been one of the main criticisms of the MCU.
From Full House to Sex and the City, it seems almost every popular show and movie get remakes/reboots that to appeal to the audience’s nostalgia as they age. In this series, I will look at the best and worst remakes of all time and breaking down scenes from each to see how they stack up.
The image of Napoleon seems to have permeated our culture. Even if you haven't studied European history or ever been to France, you probably still have an idea of what he looks like or who he is. Ever stop and wonder, why? Why does the image of Napoleon seem so common? Why does he crop up in pop culture, time and time again? It might have something to do with how carefully Napoleon created his own image and myth through widely disseminated propaganda during his reign.
When critic Roger Ebert reviewed The Thing in 1982, he was not happy with the film and its “superficial characterizations and the implausible behavior of the scientists on that icy outpost.” With all due respect to Mr. Ebert, watching The Thing is a process of rejecting plausible behavior, of accepting unreality and submerging completely in it.
If you haven’t seen the new four-part docuseries, LuLaRich, on Amazon Prime Video, you’re missing out. Before watching, I vaguely recalled hearing about LuLuRoe but I was unaware of the extent of the company’s growth and reach. LuLaRoe gained popularity because of their obnoxiously colorful leggings, dresses, and more that were in demand among circles of housewives across the country, but there’s so much more to the company than meets the eye. On the surface, LuLaRoe appeared similar to other multi-level marketing schemes, but deep down, the company was corrupt and filled with complicated family dynamics.
