Arts & Culture

‘Eternals’ is Worth Every Overcrowded Minute

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(Warning: major spoilers ahead!) At first, Marvel’s Eternals staggered onto the big screen under abysmal ratings from critics and a horde of ‘review-bombers’ enraged by the film’s diverse cast and LGBTQ+ representation. The film now, however, seems to be getting fairly positive audience reviews, praised for its existential ambitions. On the heels of the widely-successful Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings, fans are wringing their hands over the lackluster response. 

I, at least, unrepentantly enjoyed Eternals, despite my problems with it. While an overcrowded spectacle with pacing and subtlety issues, Eternals — directed by the talented Chloé Zhao — was redeemed by its cinematography and soundtrack, and the chemistry of its ensemble cast that made their characters vulnerable and charming. The film forecasts the future of the MCU: cramped, convoluted and beautifully strange. 

First and foremost, I think that Eternals should have been two films, or have been twenty minutes longer.

Arts & Culture

Questioning Justice in the Face of Death: ‘The State of Texas vs. Melissa’

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The documentary focuses on the case of Melissa Lucio, a woman convicted for the 2007 death of her two-year-old daughter Mariah. As of 2021, Melissa has been on death row for 13 years. Melissa suffered immense trauma in her life, including sexual assault beginning at age six. Melissa married at just 16 years old; she said in the film she wanted “to escape” her childhood. 

Arts & Culture

Beauty and Bloodshed in ‘Titane’

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Titane is easily the strangest movie I’ve ever seen. The Palme d’Or winner gained notoriety and praise for its demented portrayal of love. While that sometimes gets lost in the movie’s unhinged plot, Titane’s visceral experience of blending horror and eroticism results in a thrumming crescendo of creative ingenuity. Titane centers around Alexia (Agathe Rousselle), a murderous strip-club dancer who takes on the identity of a long-missing boy named Adrien in order to escape the authorities. At risk of spoiling the movie, I should note that it is also about cars, and the companionship that accompanies the grotesqueness of the human body.

Arts & Culture

Awful Anachronisms: A Cinderella (2021) Review

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These are the perfect stories to be retold because of their universality and their unlimited potential for fluidity in presentation. However, one should not strip so many elements of the original story that it becomes bland, nor abuse the fluidity to ignore worldbuilding. Cinderella 2021 does both.