Author: Rob Dean

Infatuation is a hell of a drug. One of the few universal experiences that everyone undergoes, falling in love with someone affects people no matter their age, location or any other defining feature. A person falls for another and suddenly his world is tossed upside down. It is an exhilarating rush to feel that charged energy brimming beneath the skin, but with it comes anxiety and a sudden questioning of identity as this new person has (seemingly) irrevocably changed one’s life. In the best of circumstances, it’s reciprocated and becomes a lasting love that defines a time and a place,…

Spectacle can be a good thing – a bit of escapist fun that transports audiences into a feast for the senses and allows them to leave their worries behind. The old razzle-dazzle has its place in entertainment as people desperately seek to experience something they never have before. Problems arise, however, when spectacular elements become boring and mundane, quickly rendering their sole purpose obsolete. Or worse yet, when something brash and fun confuses itself as something deeper or emotionally engaging, it becomes a slog to endure the bravado. “The Greatest Showman,” an original musical based on the life of famed huckster…

The burden of legacies is a mixed blessing that is hard to come to terms with. That which inspires people can end up dominating what they do, and so they are perpetually in the shadow of their forebears and only produce inferior echoes and pastiches of what came before. The most talented filmmakers are the ones that are able to properly synthesize their inspirations into something new, combining disparate parts into a unique whole that carries a singular voice while still touching on the familiar. The latest installment in the “Star Wars” saga, “The Last Jedi,” finds characters at a…

Monsters are a fascinating bunch. They can represent man’s greatest fears, or be stand-ins for society’s ills, or simply be cool-looking creatures. Their origins are varied and their designs are myriad, but they always stand apart from the rest of the world; there is a loneliness to monsters, no matter how evil in their depiction, that separates them from the “normal” world. But there is a clear delineation between monsters and the monstrous, a line that shows how these isolated “freaks” aren’t necessarily the worst creations. Those with good intentions seeking to stamp out any deviations from normalcy, armed with…

Whenever people move from consumers to producers, embarking on a journey of creativity to put something out in the world, they risk ridicule, scorn, or worse yet, indifference. It doesn’t matter how trivial, commercial or perceptibly impersonal the work is – that end result is still a reflection of its creator. Whether it’s a book, a film, a painting, a review, a tweet or whatever form of expression it takes, there is great vulnerability in putting a piece of oneself into the view of others for judgment. Because once it’s finished and put on display, it is no longer in…

The holidays are upon us, and with them come many traditions. It’s not just families and communities that celebrate with their own special customs, but also Hollywood as it rolls out the last of its blockbusters and awards contenders. This season has a great mix of fun movies, serious films and more than a few excuses to sit quietly in the dark rather than arguing about politics with the family. Whether it’s the morbidly adorable “Coco,” Aaron Sorkin’s directorial debut or the latest “Star Wars” film, there’s sure to be something released over the next month and a half to…

It’s a herculean task to try to encapsulate anyone’s life into one piece of art, whether it’s in film, books, theater or any other medium. Most people’s character is too complex, and their lives too random, to adhere to any sort of dramatic structure that is satisfying. The best works of biography are those that find the running themes throughout its subject’s life or the inciting incident that would echo throughout his or her years to eventually lead them to a place in history. Attempting to tell a life story can be daunting; something is going to be lost in…

Halloween is fast approaching, and for many, the whole month of October has been but a spooky prelude to that holiday. Many take the occasion to watch horror movies they love or may have missed, and generally bask in the genre for 31 days. Social media is abuzz with hashtags like #31DaysofHalloween and posts about people discovering (or rediscovering) beloved horror entries from years prior. This enjoyment of horror cinema isn’t isolated to home viewing either, as just last weekend, “Happy Death Day” was the clear winner at the box office. This has become a fairly familiar story in 2017,…

Across three of his feature films (“Dogtooth,” “The Lobster” and this year’s “The Killing of a Sacred Deer”), writer/director Yorgos Lanthimos has established himself as an observer of human behavior. More importantly, he has settled into the position of a darkly comic observer who has found much of human interaction wanting. His dialogue is wooden and straightforward, like stream-of-consciousness truths written in the style of catalog descriptions. But by stripping away these societal niceties to reveal the underlying truths of people, Lanthimos shows a world that is still chaotic and adherent to unnecessary rules and cultural mores. His most recent…

The cat-and-mouse killer subgenre has a long, storied history in cinema. From Fritz Lang’s “M” and Alfred Hitchcock’s “Strangers on a Train” to Jonathan Demme’s “The Silence of the Lambs” and David Fincher’s “Se7en,” they’re all great films that explore the dichotomy of man while also carefully examining the thin line that lies between order and chaos inside everyone. At their best, these films are tense and engaging and lay out carefully architected plots that speak to deeper themes and darker elements of the psyche that most would prefer to leave alone. “The Snowman” is not a great example of…