How tick, tick…BOOM! Saved the Movie Musical in 2021 — The movie musical is in danger. Much like the Western, it is a quintessential American art form. But over the years, their popularity has declined. Many who are not theatre kids consider the genre to be old-fashioned and cliched. “No one just BURSTS into song,” or “It’s so SAPPY.” …

Hey folks! This is a classic from the archives. I wrote this back when I was in 2014 and remains one of my early favorite essays. In honor of reaching a year of releasing articles, I decided to dust off this old chestnut. Hubert Bonisseur de la Bath (codename OSS…

The Films of Greta Gerwig — Quilting has been around as long as humanity has needed to keep warm, but it wasn’t until it moved to the New World that it became its own art form as well as a comfort item. Over the course of the birth of a new nation that would be the…

Why Die Hard is as Much of a Christmas Movie as It’s a Wonderful Life — Christmas season is upon us and with it comes the endless posts about people gathering around the Netflix fireplace to indulge in their favorite Christmas cinematic traditions. The sounds of “You’ll shoot your eye out, kid!” and the screams of Kevin McAllister will emanate from houses across America. …

Seeking Justice for Nurse Mildred Ratched — When one thinks of the most reviled villains in all of pop culture, many will turn to the watchful and tyrannical eye of Nurse Mildred Ratched from Ken Kesey’s 1962 novel, Dale Wasserman’s 1963 play, and Milos Forman’s 1975 film One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest. She has become synonymous…

Exploring the Elements of the Cult Horror Film — The world of horror is a vast and diverse playground of chills, thrills, and (blood) spills. As one of the most enduring and popular genres in cinema, it has many branches that make it so effective. While slashers, ghost stories, and vampire pictures have their place, one subgenre in particular…

How the Opening Number Establishes The Music Man as the GOAT — “Words holler at me.” — Meredith Willson Oh ho, another revival of Meredith Willson’s seminal classic The Music Man is coming down to Broadway and with it the agonized groans from its detractors. “UGH, why is this backwards, old school, boring piece of Norman Rockwell idealism being dragged out of…

Burnham Moves to Film to Pass His Ideals to a Wider Audience with Eighth Grade — Welcome back to my five-part series examining the work of Bo Burnham! You can read Part 1, Part 2, Part 3, and Part 4 here. It begins, as it always has, in another suburban bedroom. But something’s different. It’s darker except for two lights: one from the desk and the…

Burnham Tops Perfection and Steps Out of the Comedy Game with Make Happy — Welcome back to my five-part series examining the work of Bo Burnham! You can read Part 1, Part 2, and Part 3 here. It begins with that young boy, now fully grown. He wakes up in a strange bed in a strange town. He opens the window and looks at…