Cinephilia
Cinephilia: Merchants of Doubt presents a scientific argument without the science
March 16, 2015Robert Kenner’s Merchants of Doubt follows the deceptive tactics of corporations who hire “experts” to publicly doubt scientists in order to continue selling harmful products for profit. Cigarettes, fire retardants, and man-made climate change; the film tracks the similarities between their PR scandals, before becoming as deceptive as the corporations. During the 1960s there was backlash from scientists who began to strongly oppose the smoking of cigarettes. To combat this backlash, big tobacco hired scientists from unrelated fields to combat the evidence by casting doubt with lies. These “experts” were talented spin doctors who excelled at public speaking, while academics…
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Cinephilia: Karl Marx would have hated Kenneth Branagh’s Cinderella
March 9, 2015Recessions, terrorism, and 9/11 have left a firm imprint on the kinds of films that have been produced in the last 15 years or so. Superheroes, a once shining beacon of hope, have become morally ambiguous. Many Hollywood films are…
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Tu Dors, Nicole is a captivating film about a banal life
March 2, 2015Summer. The temperature is hot. Nicole awakes from a one-night stand. She is about 20. The parents go away. The house is left to her and her brother. He practices with his band in the house. Nicole works at a…
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Cinephilia: Jupiter Ascending doesn’t reach great heights
February 16, 2015Two years ago, Cloud Atlas was released. Andy and Lana Wachowski made one of the best films of the decade. Now they have made one of the worst. You may have seen the trailer for Jupiter Ascending, advertised as “by…
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Cinephilia: don’t be too quick to judge The Boy Next Door
February 2, 2015Peer through the curtain and watch as a young stud moves in next door. In the distance, you catch a glimpse of his six-pack abs and underwear bulge. He’s muscular, perfectly toned, and drives a giant truck. When he’s not…
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Cinephilia: Leviathan is a philosophical critique of modern Russia
January 26, 2015Andrey Zvyagintsev’s Leviathan is a harsh clandestine critique of modern Russia under the rule of Vladimir Putin and the influence of the Russian Orthodox Church. The covertness, in order to slip past Russian censors to acquire funding from the Russian…
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Cinephilia: Existentialism in 2014 American cinema
January 12, 2015Many movies of 2014 pondered the meaning of life and brought up explicit existential questions. Does it really matter whether you live nobly or criminally, whether you are full of pleasure or pain, whether you continue to live or die?…
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Cinephilia: Your review sucks
January 5, 2015Why listen to movie critics when I can offer an equally informed and competent opinion? Aren’t they just talentless hacks bashing other people’s work because they can’t make any of their own? Why follow a movie critic’s recommendation since most…
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