“Fantasy Island” is a horror update of the classic 1970s television series that completely falls flat in every direction due to its uninteresting plot, poorly written characters and lack of any real scares in its overly-long runtime. The film has an interesting premise of taking an older television series narrative and adding some horror elements,…
“Birds of Prey” is the very definition of style over substance where there are plenty of great action sequences and interesting performances within a basic plot told in a non linear structure. The film begins with newly single Harley Quinn dealing and the various people trying to kill her because the Joker is not protecting…
Taylor Swift goes from ‘nice girl’ to the ‘strong girl’ she’s always been in this new documentary Since the beginning of her career Taylor Swift has been told how she must act like “a nice girl.” In the recent release of the Netflix documentary “Miss Americana,” Swift is told that “a nice girl doesn’t force…
No host allowed for more performances The 2020 Academy Awards marked the second year in a row without a host, allowing for extra time in the broadcast for musical performances. Two years ago, Kevin Hart stepped down from his hosting duties following a series of old offensive tweets of his that became widely scrutinized in…
The Spring 2020 Screening Series for students in certain film/media courses from professors Justin Wyatt and Keith Brown starts on Friday. The first movie shown will be 1973’s “Paper Moon,” directed by Peter Bogdanovich. Don’t know whether or not the movie’s up your alley? The Cigar is here to help. If you know what to…
‘1917’ Receives 10 Oscar Nominations, Will it Pull Out any Wins? On Dec. 25 Universal Pictures released one of their most anticipated war movies yet, “1917.” Directed by Sam Mendes and starring Colin Firth, Benedict Cumberbatch, Richard Madden and rising star George MacKay, this film truly takes war films to a new level. “1917” follows…
Photo from: http://www.fwweekly.com “Little Women” is an adaptation of the classic Louis May Alcott novel. It’s directed by Greta Gerwig and stars “Lady Bird” star Saiorse Ronan and Timothe Chalamet as Jo March and Theodore Laurence. The story of Jo March and her sisters, Meg (Emma Watson), Amy (Florence Pugh) and Beth (Eliza Scanlen) unfolds…
Photo from: http://www.indiewire.com “Cats” is the latest movie adaptation of a Broadway musical featuring work from director Tom Hooper who previously directed “Les Miserables.” From the moment of its trailer announcement, “Cats” has been met with very negative reception due to the computer-generated character design and overall look of the live action adaptation. “Cats” is…
Junior film student Alyssa Botelho recently created a film about drug addiction. Photo courtesy of Alyssa Botelho. Oftentimes, inspiration for screenwriting is found in the stories that people hear, and for one student filmmaker this happens to be the case. University of Rhode Island junior Alyssa Botelho started writing her film “Junkie” last spring after…
Film student Lionel Jeffries recently created a film called “Living Swamp,” which tells the tragic story of the Narragansett Native American Tribe. Photo courtesy of Lionel Jeffries. To address the untold story of a Native American genocide of the Narragansett tribe, University of Rhode Island sophomore Lionel Jeffries has been working tirelessly on his film,…