Hey, Star Wars fan? Ever wonder where Han Solo got his name from? What’s that? Not once? Well, then it’s hard to know what to make of this year’s Star Wars [copyright Walt Disney Corporation, 2018], which offers us an answer to that question, and many others, we never asked. More pressing questions, such as how Han met Chewbacca, how he got the Millennium Falcon, and does Lando Calrissian fuck droids receive answers, to varying degrees of satisfaction. As an exploration of one of the most beloved film characters ever, it's not much, but as cosplay it’s fairly impressive.
Coralie Fargeat’s feature debut tackles the rape-revenge story with an assured style and precise direction. However, only so much one can done with this marginal genre. On the plus side, Matilda Lutz delivers a strong performance; the film is beautifully lensed with a color palette reminiscent of Mad Max: Fury Road; and gorehounds get their fill of over-the-top violence. Unfortunately, thrills are dampened throughout because Fargeat’s feminist slant utilizes overwrought symbolism and recycled boilerplate dialogue. As a result, Revenge doesn’t offer more than exploitation schlock like I Spit On Your Grave or more refined genre staples such as Ms. 45.
PODCASTOrdinary GracePam Jones
An interview with Pam Jones, author of Andermatt County: Two Parables about her Bible Students upbringing, Disney's Hunchback of Notre Dame, and the gory deaths of Catholic martyrs.
The Filmcast crew assembles for a discussion of yet ANOTHER Marvel movie, this one featuring nearly every character, Avengers: Infinity War!
There comes a point when you have lived your life with someone for so long that you can't hide your guilt. Naomi had stumbled upon mine with a simple look in my eye and she knew. She asked, “What are you not telling me?”
A debut feature from Sean Woodard, exploring great moment in film scoring, starting with Ennio Morricone’s score for Duck, You Sucker.
The distant night opens like a pearl / fan, a skirt, a heart,
a drop of salt. The peasants who picked the beans
are / sleeping— they will turn into a billion sunflower
seeds
Gabriel Ricard takes on Scorsese and the latest Marvel spectacular in his latest Captain Canada column.
Avengers: Infinity War (2018); Being Two Isn’t Easy (1962); Andre the Giant (2018); The Zen Diaries of Garry Shandling (2018); Pure Luck (1991)
COMICSMr. ButterchipsAlex Schumacher
Butterchips meets up with Rodolfo, the Happiest of Pills, in his latest adventure, written and illustrated by Alex Schumacher.
not all milkmen can know how the wretched can live off spoilage.
Ask me where to find need. I am ringmaster of my own sinkings.
I knew the Lord was testin me, but I also knew he had not abandoned me. I watched the trees grow shaggy and buds erupt. The colors and the insects returned. He was resurrecting the world yet again. And if he could do that, year after year after year, I knew I could go on.
Last winter I sat cross legged in the empty house at night.
I sing like crystal. I am perfectly cut Czechoslovakian glass.
The orchard is dying, the branches all charred with fire blight.
The sand in my hair,
the sand in my shoes near the satin-coco lining— a dolphin washed ashore,
your mouth the memory of a rooster on top a hanging silence…
We drove to Washington, DC, waving
our hands through the sage haze so we could
see the road, stretched our legs at the Museum of Tolerance
looking for whales.
It is terrible luck to carry a woman on a ship like this.
I carry this woman here, hidden, so there were two aboard.
The sail runs up, with a white flag, made of lace and satin,
tied at the neck with pearls and something blue.
An interview with actress Kathryn Prescott on her new short film, “Dear You”, which addresses the opioid epidemic.
She never imagined her father not being there, had never questioned his authority, but his illness made him less imposing. She had grown out of his shadow. Still, she surprised herself at how easy the truth came.
She’s saying something else, but I’m out of reasonable earshot, so it’s socially acceptable to pretend I don’t hear her now. It just so happens I did forget something, not capers, but a sauce for my spaghetti. I’m making dinner for Judy, my wife; she says I don’t surprise her enough. Tonight, I’m proving her wrong.
Revenge is one
of the first stories
my grandmother
read to me
when she warned my mother
I was a magnet for
impurities.
Jessica returned with Justin’s drink. Neither one of them noticed or seemed to care that Ruby was whimpering. I couldn’t wait to get out of that apartment, but knew that I had to repeat my instructions to Justin and Jessica.