Author: Cody Lakin
April 14, 2018 /

The Brilliant Existentialism of The Grey

The Brilliant Existentialism of The Grey: An Analysis of an Overlooked Film

When The Grey (2011, directed by Joe Carnahan) was first released, it was marketed—very wrongly, might I add—as another Liam Neeson action vehicle, but this time it’s out in the wilderness and Neeson is fighting wolves. The general reaction was as to be expected, and I recall feeling indifferent toward the trailers.

However, I recently saw The Grey for the first time, and I found myself caught entirely off guard. To put my reaction in context, I read that Roger Ebert was so impressed with his screening of The Grey that he walked out of the next movie, feeling that it would be unfair to watch another movie and to criticize it in the wake of how The Grey had affected him.

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March 4, 2018 /

This Film is About You: How “The Truman Show” is about waking up

March 2, 2018 /

Why the “Three Billboards” Backlash is Getting it Wrong

Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri, directed by Martin McDonagh (2017)

(Minor spoilers regarding the film’s themes)

It’s interesting and usually nothing more than annoying when “Oscar Backlash” strikes a film. And the controversy usually comes from out of context, has very little to do with the film(s) it surrounds. In the case of Three Billboards, there’s some small, passing, and certainly annoying (in a “mosquito buzzing near your ear” kind of way) backlash claiming that the film glorifies racism. This has to do with Sam Rockwell’s character, who is a racist cop. I will avoid plot details and instead focus on the themes explored through his character.
After seeing the film, it was difficult for me to even understand the source of the backlash other than maybe it was due to McDonagh’s dark sense of humor, but then I realized—and later read—that the controversy surrounds how the story treats Rockwell’s cop, the arc he follows. And I’m disappointed that there is backlash at all.

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December 6, 2017 /

Review: Lady Bird

October 14, 2017 /

Review: Blade Runner 2049

October 5, 2017 /

Review: Gerald’s Game

September 23, 2017 /

Review: A Ghost Story

September 10, 2017 /

Review: IT

September 8, 2017 /

Twin Peaks: From Murder Mystery to Surreal Masterpiece

With the third season of Twin Peaks coming to a spectacular, head-scratching close, we thought we’d look back at the journey that the show has taken us on, as well as its own awe-inspiring transformation from a simple yet compelling murder mystery, into realms beyond life and death, beyond space and time…  that is to say, whatever it can be called now.

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August 21, 2017 /

Review: The Cyclotron