The Slate : The latest in all things cinematic

Zack Snyder’s Superman reboot delivers a powerful spectacle but a weak story

Shane Black brings his pulp style to the shellhead

Bizarre Murder Mystery Brings an Unwelcome Invasion of the Metaphysical to the Theater This past spring, Lafayette College’s Marquis Players showcased their performance of Rupert Holmes’ musical murder mystery “Curtains” that appeared on Broadway in 2007. The plot follows the cast of a bumbling musical whose production is plagued by a series of sycophantic killings. For those of you who’ve seen…

The PSA Online Film Festival is now live! Watch and vote for your favorites until July 21st! Haydenfilms Institute is proud to present their innovative youth development program, known as the Youth Media Initiative (YMI).  In 2012, HFI partnered with the Reading Youth Violence Prevention (RYVP) Project in an effort to reduce youth violence and promote positive community change. The multi-faceted…

Automatically attractive due to fantastical visuals, a literary classic, and Leonardo DiCaprio, The Great Gatsby was sized up to be a huge hit. Unfortunately, the film turned out to be a visual spectacle, devoid of substantial meaning. Combining a legendary cast, with one of the most popular literary classics was enough to enthrall the public, but not enough to hold audience’s attention. Hollywood…

Last week Eric Schmidt, Executive Chairman of Google, declared that the Internet has already replaced television. Online streaming has become exponentially popular in the past few years, which is why Google plans to take the online video distribution platform by storm. According to The Financial Times, YouTube is rumored to release a subscription-based service as early as this week. Fifty channels…

Michael Attardi’s new film toes the line between humor and violence. Award-winning director Michael Attardi is a stickler for timing in comedy. In a genre whose success relies on perfect delivery, it’s vital that the jokes are delivered with that in mind - even when that film is about the mafia and murder. It’s maintaining this balance between comedic gags and mob violence that Attardi brings to…

When an economic depression swept across America in 2008, the entertainment industry reacted to it as severely as the stock market did. Strong motifs of superheroes, alternative universes, and apathy began to saturate films and theaters across the country. Recently though, as America begins to clamber back to its feet, the apathy is beginning to fade and the superheroes are becoming subject to intense…

Some people are calling it the “Veronica Mars” effect. The wildly successful Kickstarter project for a Veronica Mars movie (which met its $2 million goal in less that 11 hours, eventually raising nearly $6 million by the end of the donation period) sent a reverberating shock amongst the film industry, whose traditional method of funding films comes almost exclusively from studio deals. And now, other…

A film’s success can be determined by how much power it has over a viewer’s emotions. If it brings out his or her laughter at one point, only to expertly reduce the viewer to tears five minutes later, then it warrants serious accolades. Flemish Director Felix Van Groeningen has created such a film with The Broken Circle Breakdown, a sweeping drama about a Flemish couple finding their love and faith…