Category: Features

Cinema Saint: Robert Rodriguez

Cinema Saint: Robert Rodriguez

Posted by | Sep 22, 2017 |

Between September 15 and October 15, AE will be running a series of articles celebrating Hispanic Heritage Month, in which we elevate and celebrate Hispanic contributions and representation in the world of cinema, starting today with the induction of our newest Cinema Saint, Robert Rodriguez. — His name is Robert Rodriguez. Hell, you’re probably familiar with the guy. You either know him as the kickass director of the Mariachi trilogy and From Dusk Till Dawn, or you recognise him as Quentin Tarantino’s cinematic partner-in-crime. Either way, the man likely needs no introduction. It’s easy to talk and write about...

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Need a Good Scare Today?

Need a Good Scare Today?

Posted by | Sep 21, 2017 | |

Fall begins tomorrow and even though New York City weather refuses to acknowledge it, I can feel it; the spooking season is near. This week I’ve been catching up on back episodes of Snap Judgment Presents Spooked, a spinoff of the addictive storytelling-focused, Snap Judgment podcast. Each show features two scary stories told firsthand by those who experienced them. They’re all fantastic, but the one I listened to on last night’s commute was next-level creepy. Scroll down to the September 8 episode, Lost in Time and check out the first story. Is it true? I don’t care. But I...

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BLOTTER | The Grim Sleeper and Dragging the Lake

BLOTTER | The Grim Sleeper and Dragging the Lake

Posted by | Sep 21, 2017 | |

Hi, hello. First, let me just say that I’ve avoided talking about this so far. It may actually be fine. Good, even! (It’s getting reviewed well) And Netflix knows its way around a story. It’s even alleged to have reinvented the dick joke, but still I don’t think it’s enough to get me to watch the true crime parody American Vandal. What if I don’t want to rethink my stance on true crime, Bustle? What then? That said, maybe you’ll dig it. It began streaming September 15. Just let me know if I’m wrong. In a much more serious...

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The Punisher is Out for Blood in First Trailer for the Netflix Series

The Punisher is Out for Blood in First Trailer for the Netflix Series

Posted by | Sep 20, 2017 | |

Here’s the first full trailer for Marvel’s The Punisher! First off, this trailer gets major props for the use of Metallica’s “One.” And secondly, Jon Bernthal’s take on Frank Castle as a rage animal is really something to behold. The series, delving into government conspiracies and covert operations looks like it’ll pull significantly from Garth Ennis’ Punisher MAX run, which will certainly differenate its arc from the previous Punisher films. With Hannibal and Narcos Producer and writer, Steve Lightfoot as showrunner, there’s a high that The Punisher will be one of Marvel/Netflix’s best collaborations. Netfix is teasing out the...

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Go Deeper into the World Before Blade Runner 2049 in the Second of Three Shorts

Go Deeper into the World Before Blade Runner 2049 in the Second of Three Shorts

Posted by | Sep 20, 2017 | |

Following the release of short film Nexus: 2036, Luke Scott brings us the second of three short Blade Runner stories, Nowhere to Run, which further expands the world of Blade Runner and sets up the events of Denis Villeneuve’s sequel. This short introduces us to Dave Bautista’s “rogue skin-job” Sapper, in the year 2048, and sets up the future confrontation between him and Ryan Gosling’s K. Blade Runner 2049 will be released on October 6th, 2017. Featured Image: Warner...

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Lara Croft’s Adventure Begins in Tomb Raider Trailer

Lara Croft’s Adventure Begins in Tomb Raider Trailer

Posted by | Sep 20, 2017 | |

Here’s our first look at Roar Uthaug’s (The Wave) Tomb Raider Reboot! While the trailer consists mostly of action beats, it does strike the right tone and look for Tomb Raider. Based on Square Enix’s rebooted game series, Tomb Raider looks like it’s going to draw heavily from the 2013 game’s action beats and set pieces, with a few surprises thrown in. Alicia Vikander is perfectly cast as Lara Croft, and hopefully the Oscar winner can set a new trend for video game movies. All signs point to Tomb Raider being a blast, and putting the action heroine back...

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Death and the Passage of Time in Twin Peaks: The Return

Death and the Passage of Time in Twin Peaks: The Return

Posted by | Sep 20, 2017 |

One of the most unexpectedly powerful moments in Twin Peaks: The Return, a series that gave us many poignant scenes, involved none other than Carl Rodd. Harry Dean Stanton’s character, who we had previously seen stealing the show as the grouchy manager of the Fat Trout Trailer Park in the prequel film Twin Peaks: Fire Walk With Me, has changed a lot since we last saw him. Other than the usual signs of ageing, he seemed a little more relaxed and generous, and while his exhaustion is still present, now it seems more melancholic than beleaguered. Carl sits down...

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Strong Island Continues Netflix’s Streak of Strong True Crime Work and Imperative Race Commentary

Strong Island Continues Netflix’s Streak of Strong True Crime Work and Imperative Race Commentary

Posted by | Sep 20, 2017 | , |

Overview: One man looks at the traumatic event that changed his family forever, his brother’s murder. Netflix; 2017; Rated NR; 107 minutes. A Collective Grief: In the final minutes of Strong Island, filmmaker Yance Ford’s exploration into his brother’s murder, Ford asks “What are the contours of fear?” According to his brother’s killer, fear is what motivated him to shoot him William Ford, Jr. during an altercation at an auto body shop in 1992. His brother’s killer, a then 19-year old white auto mechanic named Mark Reilly, earns little attention from the filmmaker within the narrative. It’s a decision both...

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On Loneliness & Abuse In Stephen King’s IT

On Loneliness & Abuse In Stephen King’s IT

Posted by | Sep 19, 2017 |

I first read the gargantuan Stephen King horror epic IT when I was a freshman in high school. At the time, I was fairly comfortable with myself and my ability to relate to those around me. In middle school, I had established a relatively stable core group of friends with whom I conversed on a daily basis. I could pretend that I was fitting in despite my inherent inclination towards isolation and taciturn contemplation. I had always experienced some trouble relating to other kids my own age, and had always gravitated towards conversing with my elders, whether it be my own...

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God Help You: Noah, mother! and Aronofsky’s Mythic Domestic Horrors

God Help You: Noah, mother! and Aronofsky’s Mythic Domestic Horrors

Posted by | Sep 18, 2017 | |

**Spoilers for mother!”** Before the premiere of mother! at the Toronto Film Festival, Darren Aronofsky handed out prayer cards, entitled “mother’s prayer,” a variation on the Lord’s Prayer. It was a move that was deemed by many to be a stunt, a gimmicky attempt to stir up buzz. And perhaps it was a stunt in part. But, Aronofsky has always been passing out prayers, attempts to find, understand, and interpret the will and whims of God, or perfection, through his films. It’s been done through numbers (Pi), through the unsustainable high (Requiem for a Dream), the quest for immortality...

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BLOTTER | Liquid Matthew

BLOTTER | Liquid Matthew

Posted by | Sep 16, 2017 | |

On a Sunday night in December 1983 in Miami’s Hialeah neighborhood, a pair of joggers found the body of Francisco Patino Gutierrez, who’d been murdered and dumped in a parking lot. It was the start of what became known as the “Liquid Matthew” case. A nasty rainstorm was passing over Miami that night making the search for clues difficult. It wasn’t until the next day that police returned to the scene and tried to piece together what had happened to Gutierrez. A few things were known at this point: the victim was a Colombian national, he’d been a seaman,...

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The Masks In Front of the Man: Tom Hardy Turns 40

The Masks In Front of the Man: Tom Hardy Turns 40

Posted by | Sep 15, 2017 |

Tom Hardy doesn’t really have one of those faces. Well, maybe he does now, as today, on the actor, model, and sex symbol’s 40th birthday, we’ve seen him in dozens of leading or second bill roles, ranging from iconic characters like Bane and Max Rockatansky to indie dramas like The Drop and Locke to obligatory romantic comedies (he doesn’t get a pass on This Means War). But in the beginning, he didn’t really have one of those faces. It’s hard to say when it shifted, but there was a point not long ago when Hardy, for whom one could...

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Black Swan and the Search For Perfection

Black Swan and the Search For Perfection

Posted by | Sep 15, 2017 | |

Black Swan, more than anything else, is a film about unachievable goals. In a word, the pursuit of perfection. The screenplay does not exactly make this a secret, or even subtle. The movie practically begins and ends talking about Nina’s (Natalie Portman) desire to be absolutely perfect. Perfection, as a goal of human development, is more than a bit tricky, and the striving for it can even lead to psychological disorders. Obsessive Compulsive Personality Disorder (not to be confused with OCD), eating disorders such as anorexia and bulimia, and Generalized Anxiety Disorder all contain perfectionism as a symptom of...

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Jennifer Lawrence is an Assassin in Red Sparrow Teaser

Jennifer Lawrence is an Assassin in Red Sparrow Teaser

Posted by | Sep 14, 2017 | |

Jennifer Lawrence re-teams with Francis Lawrence for the espionage thriller, Red Sparrow, based on the novel by Jason Matthews. The teaser immediately draws to mind Marvel’s Black Widow, but if Marvel Studios won’t cash in on that idea, other studios will clearly make their own version, albeit R-rated. Francis Lawrence has always displayed a keen visual style, and the the cold world of espionage fits him well, while also providing Jennifer Lawrence an oppurtunity to tackle a specific kind of character, defined by tropes, and make it her own. While the teaser doesn’t give away too much in terms of...

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The Three Shinings and The Problem With Adapting Stephen King

The Three Shinings and The Problem With Adapting Stephen King

Posted by | Sep 14, 2017 |

I was eleven years old when The Shining happened to me. Stephen King had been a fixture of my life for years, though I barely understood why. I had watched cooler classmates tote around black paperbacks emblazoned with some impressionistic symbol—a bleached skull with stars in the sockets and a clown’s nose; a red spray of flame with a wide, frightened eye at the center—the titles always a few sizes smaller than his name, clearly the true selling point. Just the sight of one of those books aroused an urgent curiosity that was only stoked by my parents’ refusal...

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