By: Hayden Fitzsimons

‘Brothers’ is a 2009 film, by Jim Sheridan, starring Tobey Maguire, Jake Gyllenhaal, and Natalie Portman. ‘Brothers,’ as one may suspect, is a film about brothers Sam and Tommy played by Maguire and Gyllenhaal respectively. Sam is a respected marine returning to duty, whereas Tommy was just released from prison after serving for a robbery. In Sam’s absence, Tommy steps in to take care of Sam’s wife Grace, played by Natalie Portman, as well as their two daughters.

The film follows the arcs of all three characters, as both Tommy and Sam change drastically over the course of the film, almost in polar opposite directions.

Sam’s helicopter crashes whilst in Afghanistan, and he is presumed dead. This causes great unrest within the family, greater than there already was. However, Sam survives and is captured by the enemy.

Sam goes through severe hardships while captured, and it changes him nearly completely.

Meanwhile, Tommy and Sam’s family are getting far closer, and everything seems to be going well despite their belief of Sam’s passing.

To go further would likely spoil the film, so I’ll simply state that from here, the emotional turmoil is heightened even further.

Simply put, ‘Brothers’ is deeply emotional, as it follows the cruel effects of war and also the difficulty of family. Nearly every character in this film has their own unique arc which develops them into something they largely weren’t at the start. This heartbreaking writing is one of the film’s strongpoints.

Out of anything in the movie, dialogue, and the way that it is delivered, shines above. For the most part, it’s much of what the film has to offer.

Gyllenhaal and Maguire both deliver far above expectations even if they are both already known for their tear-jerking performances. Both actors complement each other perfectly and are able to bring out the best in one another in addition to Portman’s excellent performance. These performances are awe-inspiring and are the main focus of the film. This leads to the film feeling very natural, realistic, and touching.

However, while the writing and performances are top notch the rest of the film lags behind. Cinematography, score, and most other elements of film, apart from the two previously mentioned, are incredibly bland and/or lacking. The thing is, most viewers will not have a large problem with this, and the film does well enough solely through the acting’s power. Due to this imbalance ‘Brothers’ delivers on its intentions, however it feels held back. It’s almost as if there was much more to this film that wasn’t fleshed out and was simply glossed over.

In all, ‘Brothers’ is quite the good film with some legendary performances and with a riveting and stirring story. ‘Brothers’ reaches the point it most likely intended and would leave most, including myself, both satisfied with the film and emotionally affected.

For those more acquainted with film, ‘Brothers’ has much of the same effect, but is slightly disappointing as it just barely misses out at being an incredible film and has to unfortunately suffice with being a really good film, which most filmmakers would be more than happy to achieve.

By: Hayden Fitzsimons

‘I’m Thinking of Ending Things’ is Charlie Kaufman’s latest directorial, as well as written, work, and it is, as the title suggests, weird. This is to be expected with Kaufman’s work, as the weird, dream-like, and ethereal style of his writing often becomes a main figure in his films.

This film however is particularly odd, even for a Kaufman film.

The dialogue, as usual, is masterfully written, yet almost feels as if it is a one-sided jumbled mess of thoughts, and it is intentionally done so. The cinematography is equally as odd and off putting, and yet in it’s own way strangely inviting and familiar. Once again, both of these are staples of Kaufman’s work.

‘I’m Thinking of Ending Things’ revolves around the relationship between Jake, played by Jesse Plemons, and Lucy, played by Jessie Buckley. Specifically, it focuses more so on Lucy’s thought of ending the relationship. However, there is clearly a connection between her and Jake, and so she is having difficulty ending the relationship.

The film takes place on a road trip through a blizzard to Jake’s childhood home to visit his parents. However, once they get there things become extremely unsettling and it seems as if multiple timelines are merging together. From here, the film continues to spiral and spiral into delusion until the viewer is ultimately left extremely confused and most likely also very pleased with the film.

The film is an extremely slow burn, once again, intentionally so. ‘I’m Thinking of Ending Things’ lasts just over two hours, however, it feels as if it is four hours or longer. Normally, this would be detrimental to a film, however, in this film’s case it is the highest of compliments.

The world which Kaufman creates is so engrossing and atmospheric that it essentially doubles the length, complexity, and enjoyment of the film simply due to how mind-boggling it is. The length, or at least the perception of the length, could turn some people away from this film which I completely understand.

In addition to this, the film is extremely confusing from start to finish and after finishing the film, if any film were to require a second viewing, this would be the film. This confusion and practically necessary second viewing most likely will deter most viewers from ‘I’m Thinking of Ending Things.’ This is an unfortunate issue which plagues many of Kaufman’s films as they are all deeply cerebral and often require deep thought into even the most basic of elements.

I highly recommend this film despite how hard it may be to consume for the average viewer. However, if you are looking to expand your tastes and your perspective on life and media, you will find a deeply emotional and atmospheric tale of regret, aging, time, and consumption as a society in ‘I’m Thinking of Ending Things’ which will likely have a profound effect on your life in some way or another.

Since ‘I’m Thinking of Ending Things’ is a Netflix production, it’s likely readily available for your consumption, so please give it a shot.

By: Ayane Jarso

‘Avengers: Endgame,’ directed by Joe and Anthony Russo, was released into theaters April 26, 2019 (USA). I believe that this is the best superhero film- neigh the best film, of all time.

We start off with Tony Stark, a very loved character in the Marvel Universe adrift in space. He makes his way back to earth with a lot of assistance from Captain Marvel, who is played by the magnificent actress Brie Larson.

From there on, there are plot twists, major death scenes that will go down in film history, and so many parts that will leave your heart aching, guaranteeing there’s not a dry eye in the house by the time you finish this movie. There might be a lot of loss in ‘Avengers: Endgame’, but it is action packed with plenty of laughable scenes.

The plot of ‘Endgame’ is truly like no other. *SPOILER ALERT* The Avengers try to find a way to reverse the snap through time travel that Thanos did previously, in the third Avengers movie (‘Infinity War’).

What I think is truly incredible is the way that they show scenes from past movies from the Marvel Cinematic Universe, and they show some of the Avengers confronting their past selves. It really kept me on my toes. I was never bored; one minute you could catch me crying, another you could catch me with my eyes boggled out of my head during a fight scene.

The cinematography in some of the shots is really beautiful, and I think everyone should see it with their own eyes.

According to Newsday.com, Marvel’s ‘Avengers: Endgame’ made a whopping $2,797,800,564, making it the highest grossing movie of all time!! I personally think that this movie made such a huge profit because it’s the end of an era that meant so much, to so many people. Even those who weren’t huge Marvel fans thought of this movie as a must see.

The Marvel Cinematic Universe had many movies, but none made an impact this worldly. Saying I enjoyed this film wouldn’t give it enough credit, it’s a must see!

By Teah Henry

‘Bill and Ted Face the Music’ is a movie that came out the summer of this year. It’s the third Bill and Ted film to come out, nearly thirty years after the previous two: ‘Bill and Ted’s Excellent Adventure’ and ‘Bill and Ted’s Bogus Journey’ came out in 1989 and ‘91, respectively. 

The films feature two California Valley boys, played by Alex Winter and Keanu Reeves, who are told their music will unite the world and create peace. Bill and Ted don’t seem to have a problem with this destiny in the first two movies, however, the third one shows a middle-aged Bill and Ted who haven’t written the song that will create world peace yet, and time and space is collapsing because of it. 

‘Face the Music’ is one of the best movies to come out to in 2020, even if it doesn’t have much competition due to the coronavirus. It’s a solid comedy and manages to capture the heart of the original movies, despite coming out decades later, something that a lot of later released sequels struggle with.

The Bill and Ted movies appeal to any age group, and ‘Face the Music’ appeals to older and newer fans. Part of that is due to their daughters, Billie and Thea (yes they named their kids after each other), played by Brigette Lundy-Paine and Samara Weaving, who serve as a younger generation Bill and Ted while also being their own unique characters. 

The movie also features some LGBT+ representation. Billie’s actor, Brigette Lundy-Paine, is non-binary, and has said they played their character as such. Alex Winter has also been vocal in his support of his character, Bill, being interpreted as a trans man. Non-binary and transgender representation is fairly sparse in media, so it’s always nice to see. 

Not only is ‘Face the Music’ just an excellent movie, but it’s also a very positive experience to watch, and that’s what we all really need in 2020. This year has just been bad news after bad news, so it can be nice to lose yourself in a fun film with good vibes. 

The first two films are available on Starz, while the third one is only available to rent or buy. If you’re able to, it’s totally worth the money to buy, or rent, all three. 

By: Hayden Fitzsimons

‘I Saw the Devil’ is a Korean film which was released in 2010, and was directed by Kim Jee-woon. In my previous reviews, I’ve often gone into detail on the director, cast, release, and plot in general. However, I find myself wanting to avoid describing this film as much as possible. This does pose some problems as a review is, well, a review.

‘I Saw the Devil’s’ plot is something I will try to avoid spoiling or detailing as much as possible, however, the central point is hard to not talk about. The film revolves around the gruesome murder of Kim Soo-hyeon’s fiancé. Kim Soo-hyeon, a heavily trained secret agent, makes it his duty to track down the killer and avenge his fiancé. However, the vengeance isn’t as simple as one may assume. In films like ‘John Wick’, the plot is simple; a character important to the protagonist is killed, and so the protagonist tracks down and kills or catches the antagonist. ‘I Saw the Devil’ takes a different route.

It does not take Soo-hyeon long at all to catch the killer, and whilst brutally assaulting this man, Soo-hyeon decides to let him live. He places a tracker into Kyung-chul, the killer, and repeatedly attacks him for the rest of the film. Another monster has been created by a monster.

But, this film is not as simple as following the creation of a monster thanks to revenge. No, the film chronicles nearly constant violence. When I say that this film is not for the faint of heart, I mean it. Many films pose as such and yet barely reach an R-rating. However, ‘I Saw the Devil’ more than earns its R-rating. This film is one of the most brutal and disturbing films I’ve seen, and yet it somehow manages to not be in poor taste, and not go over the top into absurdity.

Once again, I must stress the disgusting and deeply disturbing events that continually happen practically one after another with very little down time. There is constantly blood and violence, however, this is barely the tip of the iceberg. Depictions of cannibalism, severed bodies, decapitation, attempted rape, mutilation, and torture are all on-screen multiple times throughout the film. This is why I find myself unable to recommend this film, despite the fact it is an incredible film with an enthralling and action-packed story.

However, if you believe you can handle the violence, or even get a kick out of it, then I’d advise caution, but would urge you to see the film. ‘I Saw the Devil’ somehow manages to use its continual gruesome violence to teach a valuable lesson on the dangers of revenge, and the horrid lengths humans will attempt to reach just to inflict pain on another.

By: Nora Doyle and Liv Miller

We’ve all heard of the ‘Annabelle’ and the ‘Conjuring’ movies, right? And we know the little clip in the very beginnings saying “Based on the true events” that may give viewers a shiver down their spine. Well we are going to be covering these true events and tell the real story of the Conjuring house.

The family that these stories are based off of is the Perron family. They moved into this house in Harrisville, Rhode Island in January of 1971. They had a pretty large family, consisting of the mother, Carolyn, and the father, Roger, and their five daughters.

As soon as they moved in, according to ‘All That’s Interesting,’ small things started to happen that caught their attention. The first thing was the broom. Carolyn would notice that the broom would go missing, or move from place to place without anyone touching it. Next, she would hear the sound of something scraping against the tea kettle when no one was in the kitchen. She would find small piles of dirt in the middle of a freshly-cleaned floor. Little things like this were the beginnings of a much bigger problem.

Soon enough, Carolyn and Roger’s daughters began to feel the presence of spirits as well. At first they described these spirits as harmless. There were a few, however, that were angry.

Andrea, the oldest daughter, said that the family experienced other kinds of spirits as well. Ones that smelled like rotting flesh. These spirits wild cause beds to rise off the floor, and sometimes even the children. She claims that her father would enter the basement and feel a “cold, stinking presence behind him.” They tried their best to stay out of the dirt-floored cellar, but heating equipment would fail mysteriously, causing Roger to venture down.

One thing that stayed completely true in the ‘Conjuring’ movies was paranormal detectives Ed and Loraine Warren. Ed Warren said he got into demonology (the study of demons or demonic belief) because he grew up in a haunted house. Loraine Warren was a light trance medium she claimed to experience peoples auras and connection with the deceased as early age 7 or 8 years old. The couple met when Loraine was only 16, and got married in 1945. Together they have investigated over 10,000 cases, and were known as the world’s best paranormal investigators.

In the ten years that the Perron family lived in that house, the Warrens had made a few visits to investigate just what might be going on. During one of the trips, Loraine decided to conduct a seance to get in contact with any spirits that may have been possessing their family. During the seance, Carolyn Perron had become what looked to be possessed, speaking in tongues and even rising from the ground in her chair. Andrea, her daughter has even claimed that she secretly witnessed this event saying “My mother began to speak a language not of this world in a voice not her own. Her chair levitated and she was thrown across the room.”

While doing research on the home, Carolyn discovered that all it’s past owners had been in the family for eight generations and that many of them had died mysteriously or under horrible circumstances. Several of the children in these families drowned in a nearby creek, one was murdered, and a few of them hung themselves in the attic.

They discovered that the angry spirit had perceived themselves as the mistress of the house and she resented the competition of a new mother living in the house. Her name was Bathsheba Sherman and she had lived in the house in the mid-1800s. The Perron family believes this is the spirit that was tormenting them.

So, when you see that text at the beginning of a movie, ”Based on the true events,” don’t think that it is 100% real. Because sometimes it’s not as scary as the movie makes it seem. But sometimes it’s worse…

For more information, please visit:

• https://allthatsinteresting.com/true-story-of-the-conjuring-perron-family-enfield-haunting

By: Hayden Fitzsimons

George Romero is likely a name that goes over the heads of many, however his affect on film and pop culture is immeasurable.

George Romero is one of the main reasons zombies have become as popular as they are today. Prior to Romero, very few pieces of media involving zombies existed. There were enough to inspire Romero, films such as ‘The White Zombie’ were a main influence to the creation of Romero’s first film ‘Night of the Living Dead,’ which was released in 1968. His film was unlike any other film before it, as his film contained extreme gore and a focus on the living dead, believe it or not.

17 years later, George Romero releases another zombie film, the staple of his filmmaking career. This film is ‘Day of the Dead,’ one of his lesser known and lesser appreciated films. Even so, many of Romero’s fans claim ‘Day of the Dead’ as their favorite Romero film. Personally, ‘Day of the Dead’ is the only film I’ve seen of his, however I’m greatly looking forward to seeing more as this film is quite entertaining.

‘Day of the Dead’ is, to put it simply, an entertaining yet extremely corny movie. This is a common thread in Romero’s films, as they are all low budget and kitschy films. Even despite the film’s corniness it remains a very entertaining film.

Yet, the first act of the film is a major issue in my opinion. I found the first 20 to 30 minutes extremely boring and borderline irritating. This issue is one that plagues many older films, but that doesn’t excuse ‘Day of the Dead.’

But, if you make it through the first act, which I highly recommend that you do, the film quickly picks up. The story which takes place is that of Dr. Sarah Bowman and a whole cast of characters ranging from soldiers to nearly insane scientists, trapped in an underground facility. They’ve been assigned the task of learning about the zombies which have ravaged America, but the soldiers are quickly becoming irritated with losing their men and resources to protect a collection of nerds who seem to be making very little progress. 

The issues and strengths of ‘Day of the Dead’ both derive from the characters. In the beginning of the film, many of the characters are nearly perfect cliches. The characters start as extremely one dimensional, irritating, and poorly acted. This makes the film become somewhat of a slog, a painful crawl until the film very quickly improves.

Once an actual threat and conflict arises, the characters who were once cliches have become endearing to the viewer and are now a set of fun characters who the viewer is rooting wholeheartedly for. After the film overcomes their initially poorly written characters, it becomes an action packed thrill ride that is non-stop entertainment.

By: Teah Henry

It’s October! This is the month of Halloween, which means candy, spooky decorations, and of course horror movies. Many people spend this month watching scary films, and if you were looking for any suggestions then you’ve come to the right place. In this article, we’ll be looking at some of the most influential horror films that have ever been made. Let’s start with:

‘Psycho’ (dir. Alfred Hitchcock, 1960) 

Psycho’ is one of the most well known movies; even if you haven’t seen it, you’ve surely seen references, heard the score, or at least seen the famous shower scene. There’s also the well known prequel series, ‘Bates Motel’. 

At its release, it shocked most American audiences. Alfred Hitchcock had trouble with funding due to the horrific nature of the film, and had to put his own money into the making of it. It was filmed and released during the “Hays Code Era of Hollywood”. The code prohibited many things from being in movies. Only “correct standards of life” could be shown in a movie, and things like crime could not be shown unless the criminal was punished. This meant many movies did not show anything like the terror in ‘Psycho’, and Hitchcock’s clever avoidance of the censors and masterful filmmaking helped create one of the most well known horror films of all time. 

It was also the first Hollywood film to show a toilet on screen! 

‘The Exorcist’ (dir. William Friedkin, 1973)

‘The Exorcist’ did not have a good start. Many major stars turned down the request to be in it, sets had burned down, and it had to double the budget to finish filming. Not only that, but it had gotten mixed reviews from critics when it finally released.

Despite its problems, audiences loved it. Long lines formed to buy tickets, people waited outside in the cold to see it, and it gained notoriety for being absolutely horrifying. Many people fainted, threw up, and there were even heart attacks. Ozzy Osbourne said the movie inspired him and Black Sabbath to write even scarier music. 

It was the highest grossing horror movie until ‘It: Chapter One’s’ release in 2017. ‘The Exorcist’ was also the first horror movie to be nominated for Best Picture at the Oscars. It’s a movie that everyone remembers after viewing, and it’s influence on horror and our culture is undeniable. 

‘The Texas Chainsaw Massacre’ (dir. Tobe Hooper, 1974)

Similar to ‘The Exorcist’, ‘Texas Chainsaw’ caused a huge reaction among audiences. The violence in the film stirred a controversy. Many theaters refused to show it, and Hooper had trouble even finding a studio to distribute the movie.

It did make a lot of money however, and helped boost common horror tropes to the mainstream. It used the “based on the true story” tactic that is seen often now (such as in ‘The Conjuring’ franchise). Even though it is not really based on real events, it is loosely inspired by serial killer Ed Gein. 

‘Texas Chainsaw’ is cited as the movie starting many slasher movie tropes, and it is safe to say that the genre would not be the same if this film had not been released. 

Those are some of the most influential horror movies ever made, and if you’re looking for a spooky movie to watch this season, it wouldn’t hurt to check any of these three movies out.

By Irene Cohen and Ellie Mulvaney

Since Hollywood’s creation in 1910, this film industry has been a huge source of influence for its audience. It is currently the most dominating movie production agency in the world, and often is used as a representation of Americans, regardless of this image’s attainability. This becomes an issue when it is taken into consideration just how unrealistic the beauty standards in Hollywood are. It’s incredibly damaging for people to compare themselves to these famous figures, when the actors themselves struggle to fit the paragon of how they should look.

One example of this is one of Hollywood’s biggest icons; Marilyn Monroe. It was discovered that the actress had multiple plastic surgeries in secret with Dr. Michael Gurdin, and a few of his colleagues, throughout her years in the spotlight. The image that she projected onto young, impressionable women, was one that she herself didn’t even naturally have.

Of course, getting plastic surgery is not inherently harmful, but it further perpetuates unrealistic standards when it is not explicitly stated that certain features are artificial. Monroe went through chin, nose, and breast alterations, as reported by her medical records, where she got the surgeries using a cover name. Obviously, great lengths were taken to conceal the fact that her appearance was not completely natural, which consequently implied to her audience that they were expected to organically look like the figures that they saw on screen.

Monroe was praised as the ideal woman, though she herself went to extreme lengths just to fit the crazy Hollywood norms. She once stated, “When my looks start to go, so will most of my fans,” proving just how image-based the film industry is.

Another example from the past, was John Travolta’s transformation for the John Woo film ‘Broken Arrow,’ in the 1990’s. As a military officer, his character required him to lose around 20 pounds in a few weeks by boxing and dieting. Even at the age of 40, he was under scrutiny for his weight, influencing viewers to potentially not recognize the impacts of aging on the body. For everyone to think that they should look like, and weigh as much as, a young adult, even in their midlife years, is a damaging ideology that Hollywood has dangerously promoted.

One more recent example of this comes from actress Carrie Fisher. One might think that she may have gotten criticism for her weight when she was still a young, unknown actress, but now that she has achieved a legendary status, studios would want to book her regardless of her weight. Right? Turns out, this is not the case.

Fisher opened up about how she was forced to lose 35 pound to be cast as her renowned role as Princess Leia in ‘Star Wars: The Force Awakens.’ Carrie Fisher had this to say after she was pressured to lose weight, “Nothing changes, it’s an appearance-driven thing.” You can clearly see why she said this especially with the history she has with the Star Wars franchise telling her to lose weight for her role. All the way back in 1977, when she was just 19 years old, and 105 pounds, producers still asked her to lose weight for her role as Princess Leia. Fisher was too right with this quote, and many actors and actresses can attest to that fact.

This pressure to be thin in Hollywood is not only thrust upon actresses, but actors as well. One Richard Madden speaks out on this fact. In one British Vogue interview he says, “I find myself with actor friends – after we’ve done a kind of barely eating, working-out-twice-a-day, no-carbing thing for these scenes – looking at each other going: ‘We’re just feeding this same s*** that we’re against.’”

He also goes on to say that he’s had his body rolls pinched at auditions, corset-like costumes to slim him down for the cameras, and flat out been told to lose weight and to go to the gym. In his interview, he clearly says that how he is filmed is not how he usually looks. The preparation he does for these scenes is not sustainable nor realistic, but many men may see these scenes and think to themselves, why don’t I look like that?