CitizenFour to Kill the Messenger: Some Thoughts On Some Recent Movies (10/27/14)

That Laura Poitras' Edward Snowden documentary CitizenFour feels like it has been gestating for a long time testifies to the hyper-speed at which the news cycle churns. Major media operations long ago lost interest in the story, even though it is barely more than a year old, more revelations have trickled out, and it just happens to be one of the most important stories of the century so far. But, hey, who cares about domestic spying when there is ebola to hyperventilate about? 

Fright Night (1985)

Revisiting films from childhood carries risk - a lot of it. A film that you loved as a child and now remember fondly as an adult can be ruined when you screen it again and realize just how cheesy or dumb the movie really was all along. On the other hand, sometimes you can watch a movie that you have not seen since childhood and now, as an adult, realize there was a level of depth and symbolism that went completely over your head the first time around. The latter is the case of Fright Night - the 1985 original - a movie that still works quite well on the surface as a fun, comedic horror film but that also  explores themes of sexual angst that seem obvious now but did not register with my childhood self.

From Gone Girl to The Guest: Some Thoughts On Some Recent Movies (10/9/14)

Some thoughts on some recent movies (warning: some mild spoilers):