A film with no easy answers.
Ben Coleman
Hello! I am a freelancer for the paper. I cover movies mostly, but sometimes video games, comic books, and whatever else comes up.
The Found Footage Festival: An Unpredictable Trip into the Weird World of Video
The Found Footage Festival has been around for well over a decade, touring the country with an analog aficionadoโs selection of pan-and-scan VHS ephemera. Unlike a lot of underground/bootleg/nostalgia-based shows, which typically depend on raw enthusiasm and audience discomfort, FFFโs productions are clever, tightly edited montages without any distortion or remixingโthink of them as a […]
Discovering VHS Relics with the Found Footage Festival
An unpredictable trip into the weird world of video.
Thank You for Your Service Deglamorizes Modern Warfare
A war movie that takes place off the battlefield and out of uniform.
The Foreigner Review: God Bless You, Jackie Chan
Hereโs what The Foreigner looks like: Taken, but with Jackie Chan. But if you walk into the theater expecting either a Taken knockoff or a typical Jackie Chan vehicle, youโre going to be disappointed. Which is a shame, because The Foreigner is really interestingโjust not for the sort of reasons that fit into a trailer.
The Foreigner: Jackie Chan Versus Pierce Brosnan!
God bless you, Jackie Chan.
The Mountain Between Us: It’s a Metaphor, and Also an Actual Mountain
How much time do you want to spend with Idris Elba and Kate Winslet on a mountain? Thatโs the only question you need to ask yourself here. โIโd listen to Morgan Freeman read the phone book!โ is a common refrain, but would you? Would you really? I bet itโd be kinda boring. That was my […]
The Mountain Between Us: Stranded on a Mountain with Idris Elba and Kate Winslet
That lady from Titanic can’t catch a break!
Woodshock: Fashion Designers Kate and Laura Mulleavy Attempt a Lynchian Neo-Noir
A poem isnโt a poem just because it rhymes, right? Iโm not a poetry guy, but I feel like I learned that in school. A poem is a poem because the words usedโand the words omittedโcreate an aesthetic and emotional quality beyond the words themselves. Thatโs a thought I kept coming back to while watching […]
A Fashionable, Hollow Woodshock
Empty poetry and Instagram aesthetics.
The Laws of God and Man Are Suspended During an Eclipse. Plan Accordingly.
NASA Now, Iโm not a big-city lawyer, or indeed, any kind of lawyer at all, or even the resident of a big city. But thereโs nothing in any law book that says I canโt offer my fellow citizens a morsel of well-informed legal advice. Which is as follows: Buckle. The. Fuck. Up. Because the laws […]
Yes, Youโve Gotta See Brigsby Bear
The bear looks dumb. I get it, I do. You donโt want to see some dumb-looking bear movie! And itโs got that nerd from SNL in it. Not that one. The other one. The one with glasses. And the trailer looks artsy and precious and… post-apocalyptic? It looks weird. And every fiber of your being […]
