Too Swoll Up

by Ryan Syrek

Pain and Gain

First off, there is no grading on a curve here and no gold stars for trying. Just because director Michael Bay has made his first film to not star “explosions” as the lead actor doesn’t mean he gets a free pass. Pain and Gain has actual character arcs and sports an interesting point of view while attempting something modestly original. That’s what movies are supposed to do. The question is, did...

Hunger Is No Game

by Ryan Syrek

A Place at the Table

We let people in this country go hungry. That’s the take home message of A Place at the Table, the new documentary from directors Kristi Jacobson and Lori Silverbush. It is a staggering and completely honest statement. See, if the problem were a food shortage, nobody could make such an accusation; but this isn’t supply and demand. We have plenty of food in America, and yet we let millions and...

I Got Beauty in My Eye!

by Ryan Syrek

To the Wonder

The first film festival I attended was in Carbondale, Illinois. The field included entries from students from across the country; my 21-year-old mind was ready to be an absorbant paper towel, sponging up art like a movie-loving “quicker-picker-upper.” What I quickly discovered was that there’s a very fine line between “artistic expression” and “intellectual masturbation” and that some of the...

Tom Cruise’s Drone Policy

by Ryan Syrek

Oblivion

If you conceived a child back when Tom Cruise jumped on Oprah’s couch, it would now be old enough to tell you to move on. Despite welcoming back rapists and murderers when they win a Super Bowl, modern society seems intent on grudge-holding against a guy who, at worst, is a weird idiot. Oblivion is still being written into a “comeback narrative” that those with a brain stopped furthering after...

All the President’s Meh

by Ryan Syrek

The Company You Keep

Although he may still be a panty dropper to the baby boomer set, Robert Redford looks like he needs a good nap. The bags under his eyes are scene-stealing uncredited supporting actors in The Company You Keep, a 70s-style thriller about investigative journalism that is neither thrilling nor investigatory. It can’t even sustain the indignation it clearly wants to unleash on the modern...

Chainsaws + Comedy = Cult Classic

by Amanda Perrin Stoffel

Evil Dead

Chainsaws + Comedy = Cult Classic
Evil Dead is alive…again…
Amanda Perrin Stoffel

The plot is familiar.

The cast is not.

For Evil Dead (not to be confused with The Evil Dead, its 1981 predecessor), the formula is perfect. Although the film boasts the tagline of “The most terrifying film you will ever experience,” those wary of “terror” should have no fear; there’s enough camp here to...

Retro Review: Life Before Test Screenings

by Ryan Syrek

“And then the big Native American smothers him to death with a pillow after he sees that he’s been lobotomized! Wait, Mr. Producer! Where are you going?”

Pitching One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest in an era of careful demographic selection and test audience input on filmmaking would ensure somebody would be going to an asylum. There’s no arguing that the ending, if not the whole film, would be...