High atop a balcony in downtown Riverside, live punk music was spilling onto the streets. You could see very little of the burgeoning ruckus except a sliver of red light peering out of a window. The overflow of punk music doubled as a soundtrack for the night; the youthful vigor blessed the crowds strolling through the merchant shops. From...
“Neo Yokio”
Vampire Weekend’s Ezra Koenig has an American anime on Netflix starring Jaden Smith and it’s as wacky as that sounds. Smith is Kaz Kaan, a super-rich kid with nothing but loose ends who also happens to hail from a family of demon slayers known as Magistocrats. He and his pals live in Neo Yokio, a futuristic reimagining of...
This article uses two films as catalysts to discuss allegorical storytelling in film. Thusly, spoilers for Darren Aronofsky’s “mother!” and, to a lesser extent, Lars von Trier’s “Antichrist,” ensue.
The unspoken standard that underlies Hollywood’s method of film distribution leaves no air for high-risk filmmaking, ultimately saturating the market with palatable products that, more often than not, are guaranteed...
The Highlander would like to thank ASPB for their free screening of “Blade Runner 2049.”
“Don’t touch it. Just leave it alone,” are the words that escape my mouth at the thought of a revitalization of a classic film. If films had sentience, I reckon they would echo this request for a shred of respect in this creatively bankrupt industry...
Martin Scorsese's “The Wolf of Wall Street” is a biopic about Jordan Belfort, played to the extreme by longtime Scorsese collaborator Leonardo DiCaprio, a Wall Street stockbroker who — oh wait wrong movie. The actual film in question for this review is “American Made,” a Doug Liman (“The Bourne Identity,” “Edge of Tomorrow”) biopic that features Tom Cruise doing...
Ah yes, “Flatliners,” Joel Schumacher’s 1990 cult classic film starring Kiefer Sutherland about med students flatlining themselves to see what lies beyond death. Now that is a film long overdue a blockbuster remake. Fans have been practically begging for a contemporary re-imagining that not only introduces stupid, annoying and unlikeable characters, but one that also adds nothing to the...
Emily Sprague is no stranger to pain. In early 2014, the singer-songwriter behind Florist — a “friendship project” composed of Sprague, Rick Spataro and Jonnie Baker — broke her neck and suffered arm damage in a hit-and-run accident. On their debut studio album two years later, “The Birds Outside Sang,” Florist is candid about this pain, but not without...
“Younger Now” - Miley Cyrus
Miley Cyrus has been many people. A revolving door of identities has dizzied Cyrus between the clean quirks of Hannah Montana or the accelerated rage of “Bangerz,” collapsing into the hedonistic haze of her “Dead Petz” epoch. For her sixth studio album “Younger Now,” rumination of the future caves into a pensive nostalgia for “the...
Damn, ASPB, we’re not even a week into the school year and we already get treated to a concert featuring Playboi Carti and ASAP Ferg. I could have sworn that Grand Canyon GIF on Twitter was hinting at ASAP Rocky, but hey, two ASAP associates in one night rules too.
If you’ve been to any of these school-sponsored events,...
Music:
Frank Ocean - “Provider”
Four singles released post-“Blonde” — not including features — and Frank Ocean still holds the title as the most elegant singer in the mainstream. His best solo track since “Chanel” finds the enigmatic singer shouting out the late Stanley Kubrick on a catchy bridge and reminiscing on a former lover on a dreamy hook backed by...