$5 Bin Film School: The ‘Alien’ franchise

Hi, my name is Jake and I have a problem. I have entirely too many unwatched films just laying around my apartment. Those of you who know me well also know this problem well, and have told me many times to cull the collection down. That’s what this blog series is all about. $5 Bin […]

In ‘Revenge,’ the female body is a weapon

To own and be in total control of one’s own body has, historically and cinematically, mostly been a distinctly male privilege until recently. Filming female bodies has also been a mostly male privilege, as the number of female directors helming mainstream films comes nowhere close to the number of male directors in the field. This […]

$5 Bin Film School: All the films I should have seen, but never have

This post is the start of a new project for me. I’m trying to watch through the nearly 200 unwatched movies I have stacked around my apartment. I know, I know. I could save a ton of space by just keeping the digital download cards from those films, and physical media has been dying for […]

Beer or Box Office: ‘Anchorman 2: Super Sized ‘R’ Rated Version’

This movie review was originally commissioned by and written for USA TODAY COLLEGE in the winter of 2014. It was never published there, so it lives on, in full, un-copyedited glory, here. Enjoy. Photo found here. Ron Burgundy, Will Ferrell’s beloved news anchor, returned to the big screen for “Anchorman 2: The Legend Continues” in December, but […]

Beer or Box Office: ‘3 Days To Kill’

This movie review was originally commissioned by and written for USA TODAY COLLEGE in the winter of 2014. It was never published there, so it lives on, in full, un-copyedited glory, here. Enjoy. Photo found here. Ethan Renner’s got problems. He’s too old for his job as a CIA agent; he just botched his last job trying […]

Beer or Box Office: ‘Out Of The Furnace’

This movie review was originally commissioned by and written for USA TODAY COLLEGE in the winter of 2013. It was never published there, so it lives on, in full, un-copyedited glory, here. Enjoy. Photo found here. “Whatever you did, you had to do.” Those words, uttered by Russell Baze (Christian Bale) to his younger brother Rodney (Casey […]

Beer or Box Office: ‘About Time’

This movie review was originally commissioned by and written for USA TODAY COLLEGE in the winter of 2013. It was never published there, so it lives on, in full, un-copyedited glory, here. Enjoy. Photo found here. If you’re a cynic or you’re not a fan of Richard Curtis’s love affair with love, stay away from About Time. […]

Beer or Box Office: Tom Hiddleston steals the show in ‘Thor: The Dark World’

This movie review was originally published at USA TODAY COLLEGE on Nov. 8, 2013. Photo found here. Chris Hemsworth may play the title character, but Thor: The Dark World is entirely Tom Hiddleston’s movie. Hiddleston, who plays Loki, is a joy to watch as he steals every scene he’s in. His character shows the most development over the story arc that started […]