There was this trend in a lot of indie movies from the early 2000’s, particularly international films. A narrator would break the action to describe very specific details about insignificant side characters. Short little synopses of their lives, their joys and their misfortunes. And then we never see or hear about that character again. It can feel unnecessary at first, bec...

Addiction stories sometimes feel the same. There's often the same course of events, the same ups and downs. The same results. It doesn’t usually end well in real life. But we hear about some of the ones that do end well. Or do we? I think the problem with some movies about addiction is that we are often given a false sense of finality. We’re given the story - the hear...

  Spike Lee has always made bold movies. But sometimes he has a tendency to over-stylize his films, OR to let the heavy themes outshine the story. That's not necessarily always bad thing. He has a distinct visual and thematic style - one that has been groundbreaking and highly relevant throughout the course of his career. But his talents, vision, and purpose all see...

  For some reason, it's easy to write off certain times in our lives. Upon first reflection (as a 32-year-old), my time in junior high feels so inconsequential and innocuous, having gotten through it relatively unscathed, and then gotten through high school (which always felt a lot scarier than junior high anyway). And then there's college, which is a reset of sorts...