“Just in time for the holidays, here’s a slice of existential parental terror: The World of Kanako, Japanese filmmaker Tetsuya Nakashima’s follow-up to his 2010 film, Confessions. That picture made the AMPAS shortlist for Best Foreign Language Film back in 2011. By contrast, it’s hard to imagine the pundits who comprise the Academy’s voting body … Continue reading
“Ever since The Muppets premiered on ABC, people have been hemming and hawing over whether or not it captures the Muppet spirit. Depending on who you ask, it’s either too adult, too much like The Office, or simply not funny enough—which, hey, different strokes for different folks. Whatever complaints you might have, concerns about The … Continue reading
“Daredevil and Jessica Jones: One of these things is not like the other. You’d expect there to be a shared mentality between these two shows as far as action is concerned; they’re Marvel’s first two moves in the ever-expanding Netflix sandbox, and the building blocks of their “street-level” comic book brand, which will continue building … Continue reading
“Hey, what do you know? Hot on the heels of “AKA It’s Called Whiskey,” the fourth installment ofJessica Jones, “AKA 99 Friends,” bears out some of the exact concerns outlined by Jessica and Luke in their cathartic bonding: Being a hero puts a target on your back. In Jessica’s case, that means being held responsible … Continue reading
“America is having a renewed—but frankly disappointing—dialogue on the subject of immigration in 2015. Our great country doesn’t exactly have a pristine record when it comes to welcoming émigrés, of course, and so the undercurrent of angry paranoia voiced in that dialogue is neither new, nor especially surprising. It is, however, counterintuitive: The U.S. is … Continue reading
A Constant Visual Feast 