“Cagney’s sadistic lead in ‘White Heat,’ a searing 1949 crime drama from director Raoul Walsh, is something well past the norms of a conventional male protagonist — or antagonist, for that matter.”
“Part of me expects something as grandiose as ‘Assassination Nation’ to happen in real life, and that’s what’s especially terrifying.”
“The vibrant and explosive opening credits sequence sets the tone for an action-packed story that truly feels real and allows women to feel empowered.”
“‘Krampus’ is the pinnacle anti-Christmas movie in the way it thrives on the sheer awfulness of the holiday. It is ugly, it is unpleasant, and it is still utterly festive in the fact that it embraces the nature of the season as it has always been.”
“Movies aren’t proverbs — their morals are questionable, their questions are impossible to answer. This is the case for good films, at least.”
“Fargeat is almost saying, ‘well, if you want to look at her, you must look at her no matter her condition.’ It is a grotesque way of calling out the male gaze, but it is an effective one.”
“Blowback occurs when policymakers fail to take into account the far-reaching ramifications of their actions.”
“The ‘Predator’ franchise is a repository of the fears that plague the powerful. The context changes, but the fear persists — the fear that the conqueror may one day become the conquered.”
“‘Red Sparrow’ is no feminist masterwork — far from it. However, in its depiction of a male world full of predators — a patriarchal system constructed to oppress, exploit and then discard women — perhaps it offers a valuable first step towards that badly needed change.”
“Unlike its modern genre contemporaries, ‘Deep Blue Sea’ takes itself seriously, creating genuine fear and tension from the characters’ perilous situation.”
