Review

News

REVIEW: ‘The Crow’ — dream the crow black dream

Marcela Johnson | November 18

Thirty years later, “The Crow,” released in 1994 and directed by Alex Proyas, still holds up. From the moody atmosphere to the perfect soundtrack, I highly recommend it for anyone’s autumn rotation. Based on a comic book by James O’Barr, “The Crow” follows rocker Eric Draven as he comes back to life on the one-year anniversary of his death to avenge his and his fiance’s death. The movie deals with some harsh topics but is unfortunately still relevant 30 years later. For example, Shelly Webster, Draven’s fiance, is killed and assaulted because she dared to speak out against forced evictions.

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News

REVIEW: The Cure showcases angst, hope and beauty in new album

Elijah Ritch | November 18

On Nov. 1, rock band The Cure released its 14th album “Songs of a Lost World.” The first album in 16 years from the goth-rock titans, “Songs of a Lost World” has been in the works for years. In a 2019 interview with the Los Angeles Times, the band’s iconic frontman Robert Smith said that nailing down his vocals was the hardest part of making the new album. “I keep going back over and redoing them, which is silly. At some point, I have to say ‘That’s it,’” Smith told the LA Times.

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News

REVIEW: Will we look back at this and laugh?

Addison Fulton | November 15

There’s an old adage that comedy is just tragedy given time. But, in the modern comedy landscape, we don’t have time. Everything has to be funny now, no matter what. So, what does funny look like now? On Nov. 9, Saturday Night Live ran its first episode since Donald Trump was reelected as president of the United States. On one hand, the first Trump presidency had a lot of absurd, hilarious moments. On the other, it was dark and frightening. A Trump presidency is less funny now that we know just how bad it can get.

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News

REVIEW: “BRAT” remix album transports listeners

Elijah Ritch | November 4

On Oct. 11, Charli xcx released the long-awaited remix album of her zeitgeist-defining record “BRAT.” The new project, entitled “Brat and it’s completely different but also still brat,” features remixes of all 15 tracks on “BRAT,” alongside remixes of two of the album’s three bonus tracks. Every song features at least one new artist, each of whom brings their own sensibilities to Charli’s maximalist vision of life as an endless cycle of sex, drugs and 120 bpm. Part of why the “BRAT” remix album works so well is because the songs are actually remixes. In a pop landscape where music is produced and marketed as quickly and cheaply as possible, remixes have become divorced from their original purpose.

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News

‘Beetlejuice Beetlejuice’ brings a whimsical twist to a classic

Izabella Kubiak-Reseigh | October 28

Beetlejuice. Beetlejuice. Binge watch? In a delightful return to the world of the undead, Tim Burton resurrects his iconic 1988 film with a fresh twist that combines nostalgia with new adventures. “Beetlejuice Beetlejuice” captures the quirky charm and dark humor of its predecessor while introducing a new generation to the misadventures of the mischievous bio-exorcist. The film picks up years after the original, where we find Lydia Deetz, now played by an older Winona Ryder, fully embracing her identity as a goth artist. Lydia is now balancing work life and mom life with an unruly teenage daughter named Astrid. Beetlejuice — who is played once again by the inimitable Michael Keaton — is released after Astrid stumbles upon the portal to the afterlife in the attic.

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News

REVIEW: ‘The Apprentice’: An excellent movie about awful people

Addison Fulton | October 21

Released on Oct. 11 and directed by Ali Abbasi, “The Apprentice” follows a younger Donald Trump — played by Sebastian Stan — through his earlier business ventures and his first marriage to Ivana Zelníčková — played by Maria Bakalova. Jeremy Strong also stars as Trump’s lawyer and mentor Roy Cohn. The film opens with archival footage of Richard Nixon’s “I’m not a crook” speech alongside a montage depicting New York City in the 1970s — mostly consisting of strip clubs and police brutality. It sets an immediate tone of the turmoil that would allow Trump’s rise to power.

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News

REVIEW: ‘Fresh Kill’ shatters boundaries at Albuquerque’s Guild Cinema

Elijah Ritch | October 14

On Oct. 5, Albuquerque’s Guild Cinema showed a restored 35 mm print of the 1994 film “Fresh Kill.” The screening was a part of a cross-country presentation, according to NPR. At each stop, the film was introduced by its director, Shu Lea Cheang. “Fresh Kill” depicts a group of misfits living in New York City who stumble onto a global conspiracy involving nuclear waste, glowing green fish, lethal cat food and a mysterious corporation with ominous TV commercials. The film is named after the Fresh Kills Landfill, which covered parts of Staten Island from 1948 until it was shut down in 2001, making it the world’s largest landfill at the time, according to the New York Times.

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News

REVIEW: ‘In the Summers’ featured at Albuquerque’s Guild Cinema

Elijah Ritch | October 14

Starting on Oct. 4 and spanning four days, Albuquerque’s Guild Cinema played Colombian American filmmaker Alessandra Lacorazza Samudio’s debut feature “In the Summers.” The film tells the story of Violeta and Eva, two sisters from Los Angeles who visit their father Vicente in Las Cruces, New Mexico every summer. Their story is told in four chapters that span four different summers, as the sisters grapple with first love, mental health, sexuality and — most importantly — their turbulent relationship with their father, who is an addict.

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News

REVIEW: One album from caving in: How Katy Perry’s career led to ‘143’ flopping

Elijah Ritch | October 7

Editor’s note: This article contains mentions of sexual assault and abuse. Katy Perry is strange. Each of the pop stars who rose to prominence in the late 2000s to early 2010s had their own carefully curated images. Lady Gaga was the eccentric auteur and the one who especially brought in the crucial gay audience. Kesha was the unabashed party animal. Rihanna was the consistent hitmaker who could move through different sounds and styles with ease. Perry was a curious combination of girl next door, bi-curious flirt and campy children’s cartoon come to life.

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News

REVIEW: ‘We the Living’ remaster returns to the screen at the Guild

Elijah Ritch | September 30

On Tuesday, Sept. 24, the Guild Cinema in Nob Hill screened a new restoration of the 1942 Italian film “We the Living.” The film, directed by Goffredo Alessandrini, is an adaptation of Ayn Rand’s 1936 debut novel of the same name. Clocking in at almost three hours, “We the Living” is an epic love story set amidst the political turmoil of the post-revolution USSR. It chronicles the love triangle that forms between three protagonists: Kira, a young engineering student who refuses to let the state mold her values; Andrei, a fellow student who is an ardent Communist and a member of the Soviet secret police; and Leo, a free spirit who is wanted by the government.

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News

REVIEW: ‘Fantasmas’ obliterates boundaries

Elijah Ritch | September 27

In June, Max premiered the show “Fantasmas,” created by Salvadoran American writer and director Julio Torres. A surrealist comedy, it tells the story of a fictionalized version of its creator as he navigates an alternate — yet no less wacky — version of New York City. The show follows Julio through two main storylines: his attempts to circumvent his need for Proof of Existence — a dystopian type of identification — and his quest to recover a lost diamond-encrusted oyster earring. The earring would allow him to get a biopsy of a birthmark that he’s convinced is cancerous, seeing as both things are the same size and he can prove the birthmark has grown if he finds the earring.

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Culture

REVIEW: Cate Blanchett is ‘Tár’-iffic in ‘Tár’

John Scott | October 24

It wouldn’t be a true awards season without talking about the latest film starring Cate Blanchett. In the case of 2022, this happens to be writer-director Todd Field’s “Tár.” After receiving a strong critical reaction at the Venice Film Festival earlier this year, “Tár” finally saw release here in Albuquerque on Friday, Oct. 21, allowing us non-Venice attending folk to dig in to the masterpiece that Field has crafted. This is a film best approached with as little information as possible, so I will keep my summary extremely broad: it centers on world-renowned composer Lydia Tár (Blanchett) who slowly becomes embroiled in controversy during final preparations for a career-setting performance. This summary is extraordinarily reductive, but part of what made “Tár” most striking is how shocking it is, due in large part to how little I knew about it going in.

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Culture

REVIEW: Taylor Swift’s “Midnights (3am Edition)” is a gorgeous compilation of nighttime thoughts

Elizabeth Secor | October 23

At midnight on Oct. 21, Taylor Swift released her new 13-song album entitled “Midnights.” Shortly after,  a “special very chaotic surprise,” as Swift called it, of seven more songs — titled the “3 am Tracks” — were then unsurprisingly released at 3 A.M. Together, the two come to form ‘Midnights: 3am Edition,”  a collection of 20 new songs that are a truly spectacular set of stories representing those nights when thoughts leave you staring at the ceiling. Anyone looking for the “old Taylor” will find artifacts of her old albums throughout this new one, but “Midnights” truly represents how Swift has grown as an artist and a person.

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Culture

REVIEW: ‘Hocus Pocus 2’ will make you witch for a better movie

Sierra Martinez | October 10

As you make your way through October, you may find yourself seeking out movies and Halloween specials from your favorite TV shows to get you in the mood for spooky season. An all-time favorite of Halloween lovers is the 1993 film “Hocus Pocus.” While for many years this film has been a Halloween staple with a conclusive and relatively satisfying ending, it, like many other classic films, has fallen victim to the dreaded sequel. On Sept. 30, “Hocus Pocus 2” was released on Disney+, and many fans flocked to the streaming service to see the Sanderson sisters resurrected once again. Unfortunately, the film does not live up to its predecessor, and it’s difficult to imagine it becoming nearly as popular.

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News

‘Men’ is a stunning, hollow exploration of misogyny

Zara Roy | June 6

This review contains spoilers Alex Garland’s “Men,” released May 20, is a true feat of style over substance. The film is a tense, visually engaging slow-burn with some astonishing moments of supernatural horror. However, it ultimately falls flat, failing to utilize its lush visual language to portray any new or even remotely engaging thoughts on masculinity or misogyny. “Men” follows Harper (Jessie Buckley), a recently widowed woman who takes a visit to the English countryside to unwind and heal from her husband James’ (Paapa Essiedu) traumatic death. This plan is foiled, however, when Harper is harassed by every man she encounters, and the film begins to unfold the incredibly toxic and abusive relationship she had with James.

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Music

Review: Swift's Latest Pop Endeavor Falls Face First

Colton Newman | November 28

In 2014, Taylor Swift released her hit-filled record 1989; the album went on to win a Grammy for best album of the year making her the first female artist to win the award twice. From the mesmerizing “Shake It Off” to the instant karaoke hit “Blank Space,” '89 was an album full of mainstream appeal; formulaic, but fun to experience. Moreover, it marked Swift's first whole-hearted endeavor into contemporary pop which went over with flying colors. Fans were ecstatic to see where Taylor would take her new music and, sadly, she exploited the bland commercialism we're all growing numb to.

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Music

Review: "Take Me Apart" by Kelela

Eric Ng | October 26

Kelela is, above all, concerned with maintaining dignity within movement. In interviews, and an editorial piece published by Resident Advisor, she has been outspoken about the constraints and compromises of working as a black woman within a music industry controlled in large part by white men under late capitalism.  Part of that process has been walking the line between using different influences — “I don't see my sound inherent in one type of beat,” she explained to the Fader — without compromising her blackness, and in turn without being tokenized, marginalized, extracted from.