Shoegaze might have a reputation for being gloomy, dejected, and wintry, but with this post, I’m here to argue that there’s no better style of music for a day at the beach than shoegaze. Just […]
‘INDEPENDENCE DAY’: AN EXPLICATION OF A ’90S SCI-FI BLOCKBUSTER; OR, JAY LOSES A BET
Author’s note: Thanks to a foolish wager on an NBA playoff series, this article you’re now reading exists. I have no business making friendly wagers on professional sports, as I always bet with my heart […]
NEW IN ACTION: MAY/JUNE 2022
Join The Grumps as we bring you a selection of what’s new and now in the Action genre. Strap in for Round-house Round-Up! From Andrew: THE TAKEDOWN (2022) [NEW ON NETFLIX] Director Louis Leterrier came […]
DEATH IS A RUNNING TAP: ‘STRIP NUDE FOR YOUR KILLER’
Why is it that when fans of Italian giallo talk excitedly about the genre, people are quick to find an exit? Is it because they don’t want to be subjected to a one-sided conversation about […]
TAFFETA DOESN’T LIKE THE BIG LEBOWSKI
Grumpire 18, The Big Lebowski 0 Welcome to our 4/20 special! Never mind what the actual date is, it’s always 4/20 somewhere, and how better to celebrate than talking over a couple of egregiously smoke-friendly […]
‘THE MATADOR’: WHEN MASCULINITY AND VULNERABILITY COME TOGETHER
Jarred by a nightmare, a middle-aged man wakes up in a panic. He’s in a hotel, an empty bottle next to him and a passed-out woman sharing his bed. Obviously distressed, he puts his hand […]
MIXTAPE: FRIDAY THE 13TH 2022
Friday The 13th, of all the pseudo-holidays, continues to hold a strong grip on our cultural imagination. It doesn’t hurt that the beloved horror franchise by the same name has such an iconic killer to […]
AUDIO FANFICTION: ‘BENEDETTA’
I’m not sure if I think Benedetta is a great movie. But as a late-period Paul Verhoeven movie, I’ll give it the benefit of the doubt. Even though visually it remains barely interesting and the […]
NEW IN ACTION: MARCH/APRIL 2022
Join The Grumps as we bring you a selection of what’s new and now in the Action genre. Strap in for Round-house Round-Up! from elbee: THE ADAM PROJECT (2022) [NEW IN THEATERS AND ON NETFLIX] […]
VISUAL TENSION, IRONY, DISCOMFORT, AND METAFICTION IN ‘THE VISIT’
Something I think about sometimes is how I basically never had a grandpa. My grandpa on my dad’s side, Grandpa Ted, died when I was two and I don’t remember him one bit. On my […]
“YOU’RE ALREADY DEAD”: LIFE, DEATH, AND LETTING GO, IN ‘JACOB’S LADDER’
“See. According to this, you’re already dead.” Everyone remembers the party scene in Adrian Lyne’s Jacob’s Ladder. You know the one. It’s impossible to forget: a woman dancing seductively at a party is attacked from […]
ON AROUSAL AND USELESSNESS IN ‘THE SCARY OF SIXTY-FIRST’
ENOUGH SENSE TO GET OUT OF THE RAIN & INTO THE BLUE-STRIPED TEMPLE “Don’t you feel like you can take on the world?You ain’t worried ’bout nobody sneak dissin”‘ – Rae Sremmurd “We’ll make Heaven […]
AUDIO FANFICTION: ‘THE SCARY OF SIXTY-FIRST’
Popularity, I think, is irrelevant in film critique. Increasingly common in film writing is the practice of saying something favorable to please a crowd who already loves a thing; it’s no secret we started Grumpire […]
LIVIN’ THE DREAM: THE SLY SUBVERSION OF ‘THE BEACH BUM’
Twice in the course of The Beach Bum, Matthew McConaughey’s greasy itinerant poet-drunk, known only as Moondog, recites his piece “The Beautiful Poem” – once at the beginning, to the weeknight crowd at a beachside […]
‘The Devil’s Rain’: Satanic Panic Goes Legit
The culture of the 1970s has always fascinated me: a disgraced American president and subsequent political conspiracy theories, shag carpeting, station wagons, hideous earth-tone plaids, key parties, punk rock, NASA space probes, New Age/occult trends, […]