Mar 19, 2021Film Review: Zack Snyder’s Justice League(NOTE: This review contains spoilers for Zack Snyder’s Justice League, please read at your own discretion) Well, you all did it. After years of whispers, of leaked footage and of support from cast. From his cryptic comments on the social media platform of which I’m certain he is the only…Movies7 min read
Dec 11, 2020Sawayama: Album of the YearOne of my favourite things to do is listen to music with friends. In a car, hanging out on their couch, or just working together with some songs on. There’s a communality to the act of sharing favourite songs, or listening to albums for the first time together. This is…Music3 min read
Nov 22, 2020How “Anthropocene: The Human Epoch” Fails as an Environmental DocumentaryYou might be wondering: Jon, what are you doing? Isn’t this a two-year old documentary/art installation that came and went? What are you doing writing a blog piece about it now, when it’s not relevant anymore? Well, dear reader, let me tell you why. I’m stuck at home in the…Film4 min read
Sep 17, 2020Film Review: TenetAfter months of closures, I returned to work at a local movie theatre where we waited through third-run classics, recent-releases, and enhanced cleaning protocols for the eventual, delay-wracked arrival of the first blockbuster in the new pandemic world, Christopher Nolan’s Tenet. After two weeks enduring the structural trembles brought about…Film6 min read
Jun 17, 2020Death to Death of the AuthorJ.K. Rowling, continuing a pattern of behaviour that only becomes more obvious in retrospect, once again showed her horrible transphobia to the world when she remarked upon the phrase “people who menstruate”, and fear-mongering against the Trans community, challenging the notion of inclusion for those who do not subscribe to…Media6 min read
May 22, 2020Review: Notes on a Conditional Form by The 1975I love The 1975, they’re my favourite band, and I was eagerly awaiting Notes on a Conditional Form, the group’s fourth studio album release. If any mainstream band nowadays embodies the concept of cinematic music, it’s The 1975; with sweeping choruses and massive variation in production, they’re a group that…Music6 min read
May 21, 2020What 2009's Where the Wild Things Are can teach us about media for childrenWhen people talk about Spike Jonze, what do they normally talk about? They talk about films such as Her, and Being John Malkovich. People talk about his fantastic music videos, and the way he innovated the medium in the 1990s and 2000s. Where the Wild Things Are is often ignored…Film5 min read
May 1, 2020A Ghost Story: How film can represent grief through stillnessA Ghost Story is a 2017 film directed by David Lowery that follows a man (Casey Affleck) who, while living in a new home with his significant other (Rooney Mara), tragically dies in a car accident. He awakens as a ghost, visualized as him covered in a bedsheet with the…Film3 min read
Apr 21, 2020Burning: Ambiguity, subjectivity, and the value of intellectual film criticismI watched Lee Chang-dong’s 2018 film Burning for the first time a few days ago, and I haven’t been able to get it out of my head since. …Film5 min read
Apr 10, 2020Cat in the Hat is good, actuallyDo you remember the first movie that made you realize movies could be bad? As a child, you don’t comprehend that a movie can be bad, because it’s so entertaining. How can something not be good if you like it? For most of my adult life, I’ve credited Tim Burton’s…Movies4 min read
