“There’s something magical that happens with a movie on a big screen,” says Vince Turner, the director of the Claremont 5 Second Film Festival, which screened at the Laemmle Theater Thursday night. “Something that draws you in. No matter how good the movie actually is.” It's the pursuit of this
Author: Pedro Salinas
‘Hanna’ Entertains, Confuses
A blonde and austere teenage girl with a bow and arrow stalks a reindeer in the snowy wilderness; she shoots one and lands it between the reindeer’s ribs. The reindeer runs away, quickly at first, before slowing down, stumbling, and finally falling down. The girl pulls out a handgun, says,
Aziz Entertains and Amuses at Big Bridges
The last five years have been kind to Aziz Ansari. He hosted the MTV movie awards last year, holds a major supporting role on Parks and Recreation (arguably the best show on NBC’s Thursday night lineup), and is touring his second hour of stand-up, the follow-up to his popular debut
5C Performers Bring Passion, Energy to Vagina Monologues
What’s there to say about The Vagina Monologues that hasn’t already been said? By this point, Eve Ensler’s play has transcended the stage and become a global phenomenon, with its annual performances fundraising for women’s anti-violence groups across the world, and the fraught debates about the play’s politics constantly subject
“Source Code” Shows Movies Can Be Fun and Smart
Director Duncan Jones earned a lot of goodwill among sci-fi fans and cinephiles for the quiet and intense Sam Rockwell vehicle, Moon, two years ago. Dark thoughtfulness isn’t his modus operandi in his new film, Source Code, but he trades that in for something nearly as valuable: frenetic, high-concept fun.
“Circle Mirror Transformation” Nails The “In-Between” Moments
Stick five characters in a room with nothing to do but talk to each other, and problems will inevitably arise. This simple storytelling philosophy propels the narrative of Annie Baker’s Circle Mirror Transformation in an oblique and unpredictable way, and director Lauren Rosenfield PO ’11 and the 5C Bottom Line
“Even the Rain” Takes Old Tricks to Powerful New Heights
In 2000, thousands of Bolivian citizens stormed the streets of Cochabamba to protest the attempted privatization of the city’s water supply. The fighting between the protesters and the police intensified to the point where the city was shut down for four days and Bolivia’s president declared a state of emergency.
Adjustment Bureau Needs Adjustments
The Adjustment Bureau, a George Nolfi-penned adaptation of the Philip K. Dick short story “Adjustment Team,” toys with some intriguing existential notions. But, par for the course in high-concept Hollywood films, it dispenses too neatly and easily with the complications of its central idea. In The Adjustment Bureau, fate is
The Other Pomona: Worth the Trek South?
If you’re like me, you didn’t make any spring break plans and are now stuck hanging out in Claremont all week. And, if you’re like me, and have rarely ventured outside of the Claremont bubble, then what better time is there to discover what’s been right around the corner the
Cedar Rapids Possesses Charm, Lacks Direction
The Kind Midwesterner archetype is an endlessly fruitful comedic target for films, as the Coen brothers’ Fargo showed so unforgettably in 1996. Their unflappable pleasantness and refreshing lack of blasé detachment serve to make them the ideal unself-conscious goofs, around which countless funny situations may be conceived. Cedar Rapids—the new