One of the most clever scenes in Disney’s heavily theatrical, big-budget “Tomorrowland” takes place in a bland-looking high school. As the scene jumps from classroom to classroom, teacher after teacher lecture about resource depletion, unending wars and the overall futile fate of humanity. Their laments are laughably pessimistic, but mirror the stories played on the […]
Category Archives: Film & TV
Finalists shoot for wins at CEC’s student-run film festival ‘Shorttakes’
When she found out about the Shorttakes Student Film Festival online last November, first-year film student Daniela Arguello thought back to an idea for a class project she never had the chance to do. Her idea was a short film called “Time,” a live-action science fiction romance about a boy who goes back in time […]
Q&A: Women’s rights activist discusses film ‘Honor Diaries’
The oppression and hardship that women endure in society, Zainab Khan said, is the largest human rights violation that is happening in our world. Three years ago, Khan, a licensed clinical therapist and global activist for women’s rights, came together with eight like-minded women to create the film “Honor Diaries,” a conversation about the role […]
Movie Review: ‘Mad Max: Fury Road’
This kind of excitement must be how everyone felt when “Star Wars: Episode V – The Empire Strikes Back” came out. Like the first “Mad Max” films, the first “Star Wars” movie redefined what both sci-fi and action could be on the big screen, an instant classic from the day it released. Disbelief settles in: […]
Movie Review: ‘Slow West’
As far as coming-of-age journeys go, 16-year-old Jay Cavendish’s odyssey from the windy highlands of Scotland to the barren plains of Wild West America has to rank as one of the bleakest and most unlikely. In “Slow West,” director John Maclean focuses on life’s harsh realities on the American frontier in the 19th century. He […]
Movie review: The Ocean of Helena Lee
“The Ocean of Helena Lee” Directed by Jim Akin and Maria Mckee Shootist Films 2.5 Paws If director Jim Akin intended for his movie, “The Ocean of Helena Lee,” to be an unoriginal and dull parody of Luc Besson’s 1994 drama “Léon: The Professional,” he most certainly succeeded. The film opens Friday at the American […]
Q&A: Pixar director sheds light on animation, upcoming movie ‘Inside Out’
Anyone who loves Buzz Lightyear’s signature line, “To Infinity and Beyond!,” can thank Pete Docter, who contributed “and beyond” to the now-iconic phrase. On Wednesday, Docter gave a guest lecture in a UCLA film class about the animation production process, particularly through the lens of his new film “Inside Out.” Docter has worked at Pixar […]