In response to my first formal Weed in Art piece, an anonymous commenter brought up the classic Reefer Madness, a borderline-propagandist short film from the 1930s that schools screened for students OVER DECADES, many of whose views were dictated by this now-hilariously over-the-top anti-drug PSA. Continue reading “Weed in Art 2018: An Insecure Defense”
Write All Nite‘s 2018 New Year’s resolution: evaluate how marijuana is depicted in movies and theatre. For instance, I’ll praise portrayals that view smoking weed as a cognitive stimulant, and I’ll lambast those that regurgitate tired tropes about stoners. Light one up, baby!
Continue reading “Weed in Art 2018: IN BETWEEN (Maysaloun Hamoud)”
Starting a review of the relentlessly fluffy The Greatest Showman with a topic as serious as authorial intent may be unexpected, but that’s kind of the point:
Sometimes fascinating failures inspire more thoughts to explore than straightforward successes. Such is the case for the SpongeBob SquarePants Broadway musical, a show that indirectly touches upon a wide range of subjects regarding the state of theatre (and other topics). In the coming days, I’ll excavate some of these ideas in a series dubbed The SpongeBob SquarePapers:
How can Ridley Scott clown on Blade Runner 2049 for being too long when his All the Money in the World is also too long?
Continue reading “ALL THE MONEY IN THE WORLD (Ridley Scott)”
A Jewish family returning at the end of World War II to their home village that handed them over to the Nazis is not the type of story one would expect to be given the western treatment.
There are almost too many great movies in theaters right now; it’s hard to keep up!
If you’re even remotely interested in the early days of Hollywood, and if all you know about Hedy Lamarr is that she’s considered one of the most gorgeous stars in the history of the silver screen, then Bombshell: The Hedy Lamarr Story is both for and about you.
Continue reading “BOMBSHELL: THE HEDY LAMARR STORY (Alexandra Dean)”
Unforgettable is like a soft-core porno without the sex scenes.
Continue reading “2017 Rewind: UNFORGETTABLE (Denise Di Novi)”
For anyone who’s ever wondered why the legendary Peter Fonda hasn’t appeared in more movies of late, his performance in The Ballad of Lefty Jones provides a pretty conclusive answer: Over the years, his acting talents may have just dried up as much as the desert that serves as the setting for this deliberately old-fashioned western.
Write All Nite 