|Nicole Rojas-Oltmann| You may have noticed the influx of one-shot and long-shot films in the past two decades. We have camera technology to thank for this. Now film can be made in one go. You know, like theatre has always been done. One-shot and long-shot cinematography pose… Continue reading
|Benjamin Jarman| “Image matters most. We have to put on a great show. An eye for an eye. This is the age of the media. The media got us. Now we get back at them.” These are the first lines of dialogue recited by actress Kelly Chen in Johnnie To’s 2004 crime film, Breaking News. Chen Continue reading
|Hannah Baxter| The Watermelon Woman (1996) is a movie about making a movie about movies—the very definition of meta. The main character, Cheryl, played by writer-director Cheryl Dunye, is steeped in moving pictures. She supports herself videotaping weddings and working… Continue reading
|Matt Lambert| By the time Children of Men plays at the Trylon, my son might be born. It will be my wife and I’s first child. It’s something we’ve waffled on in our marriage for many years. The decision to bring life into the world has changed drastically as I’ve grown older. When I was younger, I thought the idea of… Continue reading
|Jake Rudegeair| “Coming of age” always struck me as a flat phrase for something so bumpy, so relentless. It doesn’t really illustrate that slow erosion of our bodies and souls as we’re worn down by the slings and arrows of experience, cruelly and carelessly reformed over and over… Continue reading
|Nazeeh Alghazawneh| Propaganda is a funny thing to be afraid of because it’s uniquely man-made, and therefore not real. It only exists along the periphery of chasing omniscience—an impossibility that grants salvation, the liberation that keeps us from killing each other. Continue reading
|Jasper Nordin| On July 26, 1953, the Cuban Revolution began. Fidel Castro, leading a force of 136 men, attacked the Moncada military barracks in the capital city of Havana. The goal of this attack was to instigate a wider revolt against the dictatorship of Fulgencio Batista, and to… Continue reading
|Chelli Riddough| I first saw it embroidered on my coworker’s hat: “You are on Native land.” Then I noticed it emblazoned in neon signage at Owamni, the indigenous restaurant. Those five words: are they a fact? A reminder? Are they meant to spark remorse? Continue reading
|Chris Polley| Ugly injustice and righteous anger fill the frames of nearly every fantasy revenge flick, but the best of the genre go beyond the emotion. They consider their targets and punishments carefully as well as provide a convincing argument as to why pacifism… Continue reading
|Andrwe Neill| With the Trylon screening Oldboy this week, I got to thinking about a new subgenre with a unique shade of ugly that’s been taking shape. Only in recent years has it emerged fully formed, given dimension in light of a heinous online subculture. Members of this… Continue reading
