Still from "Let Your Light Shine" by Jodie Mack, one of the 3D shorts screened at Big Ears 2018

Big Ears Stereo Visions, or: How I Learned to Stop Worrying and Love the Third Dimension

March 28, 2018

Festival Coverage by Michael O'Malley

As in previous years, Big Ears 2018 teamed up with The Public Cinema to curate a number of film programs to screen alongside the more traditional musical performances of the festival, but this year, The Public Cinema notably devoted one of its four programs entirely to 3D. Called Stereo Visions, the program consisted of ten different film events of impressive diversity, spanning narrative and avant-garde forms, contemporary and classic time periods, as well as short and feature-length works. It was a wild, sometimes confounding, and often exhilarating experience.

John Boyega stars in director Steven S. DeKnight's Pacific Rim: Uprising — John Boyega stars in director Steven S. DeKnight's *Pacific Rim: Uprising*

Pacific Rim: Uprising (2018) by Steven S. DeKnight

March 26, 2018

Review by Jordan Collier

Underneath all the one-liners, explosions, and giant robo-punches there was something special about the original Pacific Rim: it had a ton of heart. It was almost like del Toro’s inner 9-year-old excitedly rushed up and showed you his collection of robot and monster action figures and explained why each of them were so cool as he pretended to make them fight. Now imagine zooming out from this scene to find out it’s taking place in a room behind a one-way mirror in near-perfect laboratory conditions as a group of investors and producers silently tick box after box of what they think made the first one great.

Reese Witherspoon and Storm Reid in A Wrinkle in Time — Reese Witherspoon and Storm Reid in *A Wrinkle in Time*

ALTERNATE TAKE: A Wrinkle in Time (2018) by Ava DuVernay

March 21, 2018

Review by Courtney Anderson

Wrinkle is a personal film. It’s a DuVernay project through and through: it’s all about love and light and hope with a little Black girl at the center. And I, for one, am very grateful for it.

Alicia Vikander stars as Laura Croft in director Roar Uthaug's Tomb Raider — Alicia Vikander stars as Laura Croft in director Roar Uthaug's *Tomb Raider*

Tomb Raider (2018) by Roar Uthaug

March 19, 2018

Review by Lydia Creech

Tomb Raider is about watching Laura become the competent archaeologist adventurer people claim she is, with struggles and trauma, rather than a vessel springing fully formed yet empty enough to project desire onto.

Mindy Kaling, Oprah Winfrey, and Reese Witherspoon star in director Ava DuVernay's A Wrinkle in Time — Mindy Kaling, Oprah Winfrey, and Reese Witherspoon star in director Ava DuVernay's *A Wrinkle in Time*

A Wrinkle in Time (2018) by Ava DuVernay

March 12, 2018

Review by Lydia Creech

Madeleine L'Engle's 1962 novel Wrinkle in Time is cosmic in scope and theme, and just… leave it to Disney to reduce it to the personal. Badly.

Natalie Portman, Tessa Thompson, and Jennifer Jason Leigh star in director Alex Garland’s Annihilation — *Natalie Portman, Tessa Thompson, and Jennifer Jason Leigh star in director Alex Garland’s* Annihilation

Annihilation (2018) by Alex Garland

March 5, 2018

Review by Jordan Collier

Garland’s characters suffer due to Annihilation's grand scope. Thankfully, the themes and imagery are strong enough to stay with you well after you leave the theater.

Jacob Batalon and Angourie Rice in Michael Sucsy’s Every Day — Jacob Batalon and Angourie Rice in Michael Sucsy’s *Every Day*

Every Day (2018) by Michael Sucsy

February 28, 2018

Review by Paige Taylor

We are given someone who understands humanity in the most empathetic way possible and who could potentially surpass any psychologist in history with all their rare, impossible insight, and yet what we’re given is just another YA person meets YA girl story.

Jason Bateman and Rachel McAdams in Game Night — Jason Bateman and Rachel McAdams in *Game Night*

Game Night (2018) by John Francis Daley and Jonathan Goldstein

February 26, 2018

Review by Reid Ramsey

To enlist John Francis Daley (Freaks and Geeks) and Jonathan Goldstein (Vacation) alongside the greats of Iranian cinema would be a mistake, but with Game Night (2018), their endeavor into high-concept thriller comedy, they make a case for themselves as serious directors.

Lupita Nyong'o, Chadwick Boseman and Letitia Wright in Black Panther — Lupita Nyong'o, Chadwick Boseman and Letitia Wright in *Black Panther*

Black Panther (2018) by Ryan Coogler

February 21, 2018

Review by Courtney Anderson

Black Panther is sprawling movie that satisfies in a way a lot of superhero movies don’t.

Dakota Johnson and Jaime Dornan star in the final installment of the Fifty Shades franchise — Dakota Johnson and Jaime Dornan star in the final installment of the *Fifty Shades* franchise

Fifty Shades Freed (2018) by James Foley

February 19, 2018

Review by Andrew Swafford

I like the Fifty Shades films. They aren’t perfectly constructed movies by any means, but seeing the evolution of the series’ central relationship between Anastasia Steele and Christian Grey has been often delightful and always fascinating, even in its shortcomings. I want to attempt, in good faith, to present an exhaustive case for why the Fifty Shades series does not deserve its current status as a cultural punching bag.

Michael B. Jordan and Sylvester Stallone in Creed — Michael B. Jordan and Sylvester Stallone in *Creed*

Creed (2015) by Ryan Coogler

February 14, 2018

RReview by Zach Dennis

The revolutionary part of Creed is that it exposes the haunting nature of society’s expectations for men, and opens a dialogue of what that means, rather than doing anything to “solve” or “fix” it. Manhood is no longer measured by strength and power, rather, it requires a degree of vulnerability never exhibited by men before in popular culture.

captain-america-the-winter-soldier-scarlett-johansson-chris-evans.jpg

Cinematary Canon #7: Movie Crushes

February 12, 2018

By Zach Dennis, Courtney Anderson, Michael O'Malley, Jessica Carr, Diana Rogers, Jessy Alva Swafford, Lydia Creech, Ben Shull, and Paige Taylor.

Rebecca Spence and Jessie Pinnick in Princess Cyd — Rebecca Spence and Jessie Pinnick in *Princess Cyd*

Princess Cyd (2017) by Stephen Cone

February 7, 2018

Review by Paige Taylor

Princess Cyd isn’t told in the story structure we’re comfortable with. It has loose ends and unanswered questions and feels more like a chapter than an entire story. But like happiness, and like fulfillment, cinema doesn’t have to stick to one recipe.

Bloomington PRIDE Film Festival (2018)

February 5, 2018

Festival Coverage by Taylor Thomas and Lydia Creech

For three days in January, Bloomington PRIDE screened 25 short- and feature-length LGBTQ+ films from around the world for its 16th annual Film Festival. Taylor and Lydia were able to catch the films from two of the days, which included 6 features and over a dozen international and student shorts.

Best Hidden Gems of 2017

January 29, 2018

By Zach Dennis, Andrew Swafford, Jessica Carr and Lydia Creech

Best Foreign Films of 2017

January 22, 2018

By Zach Dennis, Andrew Swafford, Jessica Carr, Lydia Creech, Reid Ramsey and Nadine Smith

Maureen O'Hara and John Wayne star in The Quiet Man — Maureen O'Hara and John Wayne star in *The Quiet Man*

The Quiet Man (1952) by John Ford

January 17, 2018

Retro Review by Zach Dennis

The Quiet Man seems a little off from some of Ford's more interrogative work — The Man Who Shot Liberty Valence and The Searchers — where he took this idea of the American West and challenged it both in its characters and how people perceived this "idyllic past." But this film also doesn't want to — or have to be — like that. The charm is in the intensity of these characters and the fulfillment — and execution — of their various passions.

Best Blockbusters of 2017

January 15, 2018

By Zach Dennis, Andrew Swafford, Jessica Carr, Lydia Creech, Jessy Alva Swafford and Nadine Smith

Best Comedies of 2017

January 8, 2018

By Zach Dennis, Andrew Swafford, Jessica Carr, Lydia Creech and Nathan Smith

**NOTE** This is not in ranked order

Colin Farrell, Nicole Kidman, and Barry Keoghan star in director Yorgos Lanthimos’s The Killing of a Sacred Deer — Colin Farrell, Nicole Kidman, and Barry Keoghan star in director Yorgos Lanthimos’s *The Killing of a Sacred Deer*

The Killing of a Sacred Deer (2017) by Yorgos Lanthimos

December 4, 2017

Review by Andrew Swafford

The idea that a challenging film is an interesting film seems, to me, to be a common assumption among movie fans. The Killing of a Sacred Deer is a joyless and abrasive film, with a sense of nihilistic sadism. That statement of truth, I imagine, will be enough to convince many to watch it.