The Tam News
Keep Your Blindfolds On
February 6, 2019
When Bird Box came out on December 21st, it seemed as if the whole world had been set on fire. There were immediately jokes and pictures circling around the internet, prompting more and more people to watch the movie and discover what the excitement was about. With 45 million accounts having streame...
Lady Bird – Film Review
By Luca Pelo
March 13, 2018
Once every ten years or so, a coming-of-age film is released that paves way for an entirely new subgenre of films. Productions like these are timeless, bypassing generational barriers, ringing true to teens and adults alike who can empathize with the characters, laughing at their all-too-familiar quirks,...
Sacha Baron Cohen’s “The Brothers Grimsby”
By Marie Hogan
May 4, 2016
The first thing to know about “The Brothers Grimsby,” Sacha Baron Cohen’s latest film, is that it is a Sacha Baron Cohen film. The second thing to know is that elephant semen is a major plot point. So is “The Brothers Grimsby” good? Bad? It’s a question I was forced to ask myself a lot...
Mill Valley Film Festival: Six Top Picks
By Trent Waltz, James Finn, Trent Waltz, Trent Waltz, and Trent Waltz
October 11, 2015
The annual Mill Valley Film Festival, which attracts some of the biggest names in film, began on October 8 and will run until October 18. Here are six films that lifestyles editor Trent Waltz is looking forward to that will be shown at the festival. Heart Like A Grenade Heads Up Green Day fans. M...
Feminist and Furious
By Gloria Robinson
May 28, 2015
The blaring sound of engines entered my ears as the camera directed me up a woman’s skirt as she shot a gun for the car race to start. “Fast and Furious 7” was an action- packed film filled with mini-skirts, action stunts, and a meager plot line. For the first 15 minutes, I was immersed in the...
“Dallas Buyers Club” Shines
By James Finn
December 13, 2013
“Dallas Buyers’Club,” the brilliant new film from director Jean-Marc Vallee, is the story of Ron Woodruff, a rodeo cowboy living with AIDS in Dallas in the 1980s. The movie follows Woodruff (Matthew McConaughey) from the point of his diagnosis as he becomes accustomed to living with AIDS and attempts...
WRITING WRONGS: The 18 Percent
By Bella Levaggi
November 19, 2013
What do “The Avengers,” “Lincoln,” “Django Unchained” and “The Hobbit” all have in common? Yes, they were all successful feature films, garnering critical praise and monetary success. But they share another similarity: none of them pass the Bechdel Test. While the structure of a written colu...
Woody Allen’s Latest Hit: “Blue Jasmine”
By James Finn
September 27, 2013
“Blue Jasmine,” the latest film from cinematic master Woody Allen, is a whirlwind of emotion. After watching the movie, I felt as if I had completed a grueling session of therapy; I had found myself wanting to laugh, cringe, and scream on many occasions. Allen loves subjecting his audience to...
Why Wesley Was Wrong About “The Great Gatsby”
By Emma Boczek
June 7, 2013
Reaction to the recent Baz Luhrmann film The Great Gatsby was largely critical. “A $100 million, 3D Gatsby?” the public collectively cried. A 48 percent rating on the movie review website Rotten Tomatoes, while not exactly a scientific measure of appeal, exemplifies the relative dissatisfaction with which t...
“The Hangover Part III” Review
By Wesley Emblidge
May 24, 2013
“It’s funny because he’s Jewish!” exclaims Mr. Chow (Ken Jeong). “Don’t you get it?” Alan (Zach Galifianakis) sees the joke he’s trying to make, but doesn’t laugh. He doesn’t laugh, not only because it is, in fact, not funny at all, but also because he’s grown tired of Chow. And after...
Hands Off, Hollywood, Leave My Books Alone!
By Bella Levaggi
March 24, 2013
These days many Tam students experience a story twice: once as a novel and again when it is inevitably adapted as a major motion picture. This trend, though sometimes enjoyable, is accelerating the decline of the film industry’s willingness to think outside the box. Hollywood has devolved into a group...
EMBLIDGE INSIGHT: Support the VFX Protests
By Wesley Emblidge
March 17, 2013
There were a lot of terrible things at the Academy Awards this year: Seth McFarlane’s “We Saw Your Boobs” song, the use of the “Jaws” theme to play people offstage, and “Skyfall” not winning best cinematography. But nothing could top the somewhat horrifying moment where, right after winning...
