A Quarter-Century of Shenanigans: The Enduring, Chaotic Legacy of ‘Super Troopers’
As Super Troopers 3 officially hits theaters today, the comedy landscape looks vastly different than it did twenty-five years ago. A quarter-century has passed since the Broken Lizard troupe—comprised of Jay Chandrasekhar, Kevin Heffernan, Steve Lemme,…
Beyond the Icon: Matt Johnson’s Blueprint for Reinventing the Modern Biopic
The biopic is a genre defined by a paradox: filmmakers are drawn to the lives of those who have "put a dent in the universe," yet the resulting films often feel like inert, hollowed-out monuments. We have all seen them—the formulaic life-story…
The Cult of Chaos: Lloyd Kaufman and the Enduring Legacy of Tromeo & Juliet
For over half a century, Lloyd Kaufman has served as the cinematic patron saint of the transgressive, the grotesque, and the unapologetically independent. As the co-founder of Troma Entertainment and the architect behind the iconic The Toxic Avenger,…
The Alchemy of Gore: How Jane Schoenbrun Redefines Slasher Tropes in ‘Teenage Sex and Death at Camp Miasma’
[Editor’s Note: This article contains significant spoilers for "Teenage Sex and Death at Camp Miasma."] In the high-stakes world of contemporary horror, where CGI perfection often dictates the visual language of fear, filmmaker Jane Schoenbrun…
The Ghost in the Machine: How ‘The Frighteners’ Built the Foundation for Middle-earth
Thirty years ago, on July 19, 1996, Peter Jackson’s supernatural horror-comedy The Frighteners premiered in theaters. Released in the shadow of the Atlanta Olympics and the cultural juggernaut Independence Day, the film was quickly relegated to the…
The "Sex Purge" Phenomenon: Why Director Will Gluck Prioritized Human Connection Over Dystopian World-Building
Since the first trailer for One Night Only hit the internet, the film has been saddled with an unavoidable, punchy moniker: the "Sex Purge." The comparison to James DeMonaco’s Blumhouse horror franchise—where, in a dystopian future, all crime…
The Indelible Presence: Why Willem Dafoe Is Cinema’s Most Essential Shape-Shifter
When Willem Dafoe enters the frame, the temperature of a film changes. There is a serene, unsettling gravitas he brings to the screen that is almost gravitational—it pulls the viewer into his orbit, regardless of whether he is playing a painfully human…
The Making of a Myth: How Matt Johnson’s ‘Tony’ Deconstructs the Legend of Anthony Bourdain
The culinary world has long held Anthony Bourdain in a state of hallowed reverence. From the gritty, sweat-stained trenches of New York’s late-night kitchens to the global stages of No Reservations and Parts Unknown, Bourdain was more than a chef—he was…
The Art of Letting Go: How Kent Jones Found His Voice in ‘Late Fame’
For decades, Kent Jones was the sharpest set of eyes in the American film criticism landscape. As a contributor to Film Comment and a key figure in the institutional preservation of cinema history, he became renowned for his forensic, deeply empathetic…
The Anxiety of the Architect: Will Gluck on the High-Stakes Art of the Modern Rom-Com
All good comedy is rooted in a fundamental, sometimes uncomfortable, honesty. So, when I sat down over Zoom last month to interview the perennially sharp and candid filmmaker Will Gluck, I opted for a standard, polite icebreaker to set the stage for a…
