Arts & Culture

Best Western: Hell or High Water

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Considering its high-profile cast and overwhelmingly positive reviews, it is a mystery why Hell or High Water went relatively unnoticed as an end-of-summer thriller. David Mackenzie directs, with Ben Foster and Chris Pine playing the Howard brothers, two Texan ranchers struggling against the foreclosure of their family farm who decide to organize a series of bank robberies to raise some needed funds. Jeff Bridges and Gil Birmingham play Texas Ranger Hamilton and his partner Alberto, respectively, who are investigating the thefts, constantly and threateningly close on the heels of the Howards. From the outset, the film holds its audience in unparalleled suspense. The soft country music foils the searing heat of the Texas sun, palpable thanks to the artful cinematography: every surface carries an auburn tinge, and as a result the entire film feels burnt.

Arts & Culture

No Tomorrow for Legends

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The concept alone is strange enough — characters from the DC Universe band together to defeat an immortal mass murderer and save the future — but the execution of DC’s Legends of Tomorrow is even worse. First, it is clearly a show aimed solely at fans of the CW’s other DC programs. The characters — minor figures in Arrow and The Flash — receive virtually no background in DC’s Legends of Tomorrow’s pilot episode. Thus, the only way of knowing who they are or why they are of any importance is to watch a hundred episodes of previously aired television. Perhaps viewers would be able to overcome this crippling flaw if the characters were interesting enough to spark further research. However, the “Legends” chosen for the show are truly the dullest possible contenders.