Miyako Pleines

2 weeks ago | spectrumculture.com | Miyako Pleines

The early aughts were a different time. Along with low-rise jeans, frosted tips and the start of the reality TV boom, a particular film genre was having its moment: the crass teen/young adult comedy. There was Road Trip (2000), Dude, Where’s My Car?) (2000), Wet Hot American Summer (2001), The Girl Next Door (2004), Accepted (2006), Superbad (2007); the list goes on and on.

2 weeks ago | spectrumculture.com | Miyako Pleines

We’re all familiar with the viral thought experiment involving your daughter being stuck in the woods with either a man or a bear, but what about a man or a shark? Director Sean Byrne puts this question to the test in his latest film, Dangerous Animals, in which a seafaring serial killer harnesses the carnivorous power of sharks to torture and murder his female victims.

3 weeks ago | spectrumculture.com | Miyako Pleines

2003 was a hard year for Joan Didion. Her daughter, Quintana, was hospitalized for septic shock that left her in a coma, and her husband, John, died suddenly of a heart attack five days after Christmas. Both these tragedies overlapped, with Didion postponing John’s funeral for months until Quintana was well enough to attend.

3 weeks ago | spectrumculture.com | Miyako Pleines

We all know Hollywood loves a good movie biopic, but what happens when the band you want to make a film about is the type of band that resists the sort of pandering, emotional fluff said biopics are often known for? Such is the case with Pavement, one of the early ‘90s greatest underground indie bands that could have been the biggest band in the fucking world if only they didn’t care so much about, well, not being the biggest band in the fucking world.

1 month ago | spectrumculture.com | Miyako Pleines

If you’re going to make a movie that hinges on the concept of a haunting taking place, it’s probably not a good idea to give everything away in the title. Unfortunately, director Stevan Mena did not get this memo before embarking on his latest film, The Ruse. Right off the bat, the film seems to peg itself as a supernatural story as we watch a very emotional nurse panic over having to spend yet another night in the home of an elderly woman she is taking care of.