Style Elation: Turning to Fashion
Our sundial always points in the direction of art, cinema, and music: a hydra of ideas that are vital to community. We see ourselves as opponents of vacuity, gratuitous self-indulgence, and glib negativity – even if we just used a string of words that say otherwise.
Interview w/ Mindy Furano
Mindy Furano’s matchless wit, creative spontaneity, and cultural awareness is inimitable and variegated – she’s basically one of our favorite people. If you’re not following her on Twitter and Vine, you’re misusing the internet and I don’t have time for this.
The Big Short
Bale of Slay Starring: Ryan Gosling, Christian Bale Review written by Robert D. Patrick Upon first inspection, there’s no possible way that Adam McKay, director of such films as Anchorman and The Other Guys, had this movie in him. The slinger of saliva and suds, McKay is known for the “Brozone Lair” genre – infantile buddies with anger problems. And, come to think of it, maybe The Big Short – a film about...
Drunk Stoned Brilliant Dead
Sex, Drugs, & Blah, Blah, Droll Review written by Robert D. Patrick Drunk Stoned Brilliant Dead is a slack-jawed hagiography that is content to bay at the moon with self-reverence. Director Douglas Tirola examines the crude craftsmanship behind the bedraggled throng of comedians, artists, and tittering hyenas known, affectionately, as National Lampoon. The documentary follows the wily troupe of booze soaked satirists with a...
Aloha
And John Krasinki Starring: Emma Stone, Bradley Cooper Review written by Robert D. Patrick If Aloha had been insufferable, the headline would have been different. “Ha, Why Me?”, “Lei Me Down to Sleep,” or “Oh, no! Ahhh!” But Cameron Crowe’s wistful, sun-strafed luau of the soul came breaking into the shoreline, all foamy and comforting. Aside from a few dramatic footnotes with very obvious...
Pitch Perfect 2
With a Rebel Yell, More, More, More Starring: Anna Kendrick, Rebel Wilson Review written by Robert D. Patrick Marty McFly waltzed into to the old west, the Ninja Turtles ran afoul in feudal Japan, Ace Ventura sprang to the jungle, and now the Bellas head to Europe. When you’re writing a sequel, there’s no time to be indolent. You have to pack up your bags and change scenery. And while that vanilla formula usually...
Adult Beginners
Kroll Over, Play Dead Starring: Nick Kroll, Rose Byrne Review written by Robert D. Patrick A thirty-something has an existential crisis, burrows into depression, and has some snarky, impertinent bile to spew against the walls of their loved ones’ home. This is an insipid, burgeoning genre that began with the tired eyelids of Owen Wilson in the aughts, and just hasn’t slowed down since. Jeff, Who Lives at Home, Happy...
What We Do In The Shadows
In the Land of Blood and Funny Starring: Jemaine Clement, Taika Waititi Review written by Robert D. Patrick Vampires, again? When drawing from an empty, moss-encased well, you would expect your rusty bucket to hit the sludge at the bottom. We’ve had empirically attractive, virile blood suckers. Well quaffed, Victorian vampires. Apathetic, vinyl hoarding shapeshifters. Grotesquely moribund trucker vampires with Jeff Reboulet...
Inherent Vice
Smoke on the Water Starring: Joaquin Phoenix, Josh Brolin Review written by Robert D. Patrick Inherent Vice is a Rubik’s Cube comprised of sand and California sunshine. The thwacking reverberations of weathered sandals on heat baked concrete. Hushed whispers and drowsy head tilts form the hazy aesthetic. Paul Thomas Anderson eases off the pedal in a film that has the urgency of a swinging hammock. Based on novelist Thomas...
Top Five
The Numbers Game Starring: Chris Rock, Rosario Dawson Review written by Robert D. Patrick Bumbling lunacy, plumes of weed, and anatomy jokes – that’s been the popular well for comedies in recent years. Writers and directors, such as Judd Apatow and Evan Goldberg, make their money drilling for this kind of crass oil. Sometimes the affable schlubs in these buddy comedies come across as exhaustive and stale. Sometimes they...
