film

The Orange Pop: "Prisoners," Drama Debuts and The Emmys Part 2 (Episode 3)
By Jack Thomas Williams
October 1, 2013 - 2:38am
This week the boys discuss what they thought of "Prisoners," a look toward the future of dramas on TV, and what exactly was going on during the Emmys.

This week we talk about Prisoners (1:20), a new thriller from Academy-Award nominated director Denis Villeneuve, which stars Hugh Jackman and Jake Gyllenhaal.

We then move into a discussion of new dramas on TV (19:45) including Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D, The Blacklist, and Ironside, among others.

We finish by wrapping up our discussion of the Emmys (33:25).

'Kai Po Che!' misuses filmmaking devices, falls flat
By Max B. O'Connell
September 29, 2013 - 5:34pm
'Kai Po Che!' which screened on Saturday at the Syracuse University Human Rights Film Festival, overuses montage and only skims the surface of its few merits.

What exactly should a montage do?

It can show a rise to power or a fall from grace, a humorous series of failures or a chain of successes. One thing it probably should not do, however, is perform most of the heavy lifting for a film’s central friendship or relationship.

The feeble middlebrow Bollywood drama Kai Po Che! didn’t get that memo.

Message of 'Intersexion' meant for different medium
By Max B. O'Connell
September 29, 2013 - 5:26pm
'Intersexion,' which screened Saturday at the Syracuse University Human Rights Film Festival, contains elements that make for a good, moving story, but the subject would be better served in a form other than a documentary.

The problem with many advocacy documentaries is that not enough filmmakers ask themselves, “Does this need to be a movie?” The result is a number of well-meaning but inconsequential films whose messages would be just as well served by a TV special or an article.

A new kind of documentary: 'The Act of Killing'
By Max B. O'Connell
September 29, 2013 - 5:17pm
'The Act of Killing,' which screened on Saturday at the Syracuse University Human Rights Film Festival, tells the story of a 1960s Indonesian death squad through some of Hollywood's most beloved genres.

The Act of Killing features one of the most striking openings of the year: a group of women dressed in pink emerge from the mouth of a fish-shaped building, while a man in black robes and another man in drag stand, arms raised, in front of a waterfall.

It’s a beguiling, haunting opening that would be memorably surreal in any film, let alone a documentary about genocide.

'Off Label' too unclear, inconsistent to make point
By Max B. O'Connell
September 29, 2013 - 5:07pm
'Off Label,' which screened on Friday at the Syracuse University Human Rights Film Festival, follows no principles of effective storytelling and fails to draw connections between unrelated individuals.

Watching Off Label is like being in a conversation with a reasonably intelligent but digressive person. It starts on a broad topic and jumps from tangent to tangent, trying unsuccessfully to tie them all together until it’s not clear what point it’s trying to make at all. Maybe all of the points. Maybe none of them.

'Rafea: Solar Mama' uplifting, not naive
By Max B. O'Connell
September 27, 2013 - 3:59pm
The first film in the Syracuse University Human Rights Film Festival, documentary 'Rafea: Solar Mama,' finds something close to the truth despite human tendency to act for a camera.

There’s a tendency for people to start performing as soon as they’re aware there’s a camera on them.

That can be a problematic situation for a documentary filmmaker, especially one trying to stay out of his/her film’s story, and it makes documentaries that try to capture unmediated reality feel awkward, if not suspect.

Film festival draws attention to human rights issues
By Max B. O'Connell
September 25, 2013 - 3:35pm
The 11th annual Syracuse University Human Rights Film Festival will feature five films that tackle human rights issues.

Art and social justice will intersect at the 11th annual Syracuse Human Rights Film Festival.

The festival, which is free and open to the public, will show five films from Thursday, Sept. 26, through Saturday, Sept. 28.

Presented by the Syracuse University Humanities Center and the S.I. Newhouse School of Public Communications, each of the films selected showcases important human rights issues from around the world.

The Orange Pop: "New Girl," Comedy Debuts and The Emmys Part 1 (Episode 2)
By Jack Thomas Williams
September 23, 2013 - 3:07pm
The guys discuss the return of one of their favorite shows, hope and despair regarding new comedies this fall, and general Emmy feelings before going into a more heavy analysis next week.

This week we focus on TV happenings.

We start with New Girl, a personal favorite of ours and one of the best comedies on television (1:50).

We then move on to comedies that will making their debut (or have already debuted) this fall including: Brooklyn Nine-Nine, Trophy Wife, Dads, and many others (15:00).

We finish talking about general Emmy thoughts regarding the landscape of television (31:05), and give our pop culture recommendations for the week (38:10).

The Orange Pop: Toronto International Film Fest (Episode 1)
By Jack Thomas Williams
September 17, 2013 - 3:09pm
The team behind our new pop culture podcast discusses the major fall-opening film festival where Oscar buzz already has started.

This week we focus on our experiences at the recent Toronto International Film Festival (TIFF) at which more than 360 movies were screened and 146 debuted.

Some of the films we touch on include Around the Block, The Station, The Green Inferno, 12 Years a Slave, The F Word, and Can a Song Save Your Life?

See video of TIFF and read reviews of select films.

'The Green Inferno' offers gore, commentary on youth culture
By Max B. O'Connell
September 13, 2013 - 10:21pm
Eli Roth's 'The Green Inferno,' which premiered at the Toronto International Film Festival, uses cannibalism to make a point about the naivete of young people.

In an early scene in Eli Roth’s The Green Inferno, college student Justine (Lorenza Izzo) sarcastically questions activist Alejandro’s (Ariel Levy) ludicrous plan to save Peruvian natives from a construction company. Alejandro calls her insolent.