Culture
Eastwood’s ‘American Sniper’ propagandizes true-life story
Most biographical war films don’t outwardly identify as “action movies” because the pairing of the two genres sounds inherently unethical. Real-world combat involves real lives, after all, and to suggest that they be terminated in the service of an adrenaline rush is to appear callous, if not downright inhumane. “American Sniper,” Clint Eastwood’s recent biopic on […]
Culture
UR alumnus talks filmmaking and New Orleans
After working as a sound editor for projects like Spike Lee’s “School Daze” and Brian De Palma’s “Carlito’s Way”, UR alumnus Peter Odabashian switched to documentary filmmaking in the mid ’90s. In 2013, Odabashian – along with his three co-directors Louis Alvarez, Andrew Kolker, and Paul Stekler – debuted “Getting Back to Abnormal” at […]
Culture
Summer Cinema: June
It’s never easy choosing what movies to watch, especially when financial constraint and limited time are thrown into the mix. Below are a few upcoming June movies that I feel show promise. Hopefully the list will help inform your decision this summer season. “The Fault in Our Stars” June 6 (wide) Admittedly, the trailer looks […]
Ed Observers
Moderate the in-class essay
I envy speedy writers, people who unfurl page upon page of eloquent prose faster than I can type out a paragraph. One thinks immediately of the iconic Pauline Kael, the famous movie critic who could allegedly whip together an entire review from her seat in the theater immediately following a film screening. If not to […]
Athlete of the Week
Ally Zywicki – Women’s Basketball
1) What is your major? I am a financial economics major with a business and history minor. 2) Why did you choose UR? I chose U of R because I liked the way it felt like such a small close community, but was still a university. I wanted a balance between […]
Op-Eds
Sustainability Does Make Sense
While walking through the halls the other day, I noticed something bewildering, but not surprising: Some people speak different languages. Having grown up in a place where there is little language diversity, I find it a bit uncomfortable, yet intriguing, to hear people speak a different language. It intimidates me with its difference and intricacy, […]
Culture
In memory of Philip Seymour Hoffman
From drag queen to spy villain, rock critic to Catholic priest, Philip Seymour Hoffman has been it all. On Sunday, Feb. 2, the world observed the passing of one of this generation’s greatest actors, a performer whose style is hard to peg down because it was constantly in flux, adapting to every role that came […]
“Her” questions our definitions of love, sex, and human attachment
To call “Her” a romance between a man and his operating system is to both trivialize the movie’s extraordinary depth and also get it exactly right. The latest picture from director Spike Jonze is so much more than its gimmicky premise might suggest, but it is also precisely this premise that becomes the wellspring for […]
Ed Observers
‘Gravity,’ ‘Aningaaq’ a testament to Cuarón’s genius
If “Gravity” were a symphony — and believe me, Alfonso Cuarón’s space thriller deserves a comparison of that scope — then “Aningaaq” would be the seven-measure rest leading up to the third movement. The short companion piece, directed by Cuarón’s son and “Gravity” scribe Jonas Cuarón, centers around the man at the other end of […]
