Twisters Review
Lee Isaac Chung’s Legacy sequel to the 1996 disaster movie classic Twister, aptly named Twisters, represents an exception to blockbuster filmmaking that prioritizes in-camera effects and awe inspiring spectacle achieved through the actors tangible interaction with their carefully orchestrated enviroments. The pop country approach is never let up or compromised and is an aesthetic many audiences find refreshing for good reason, it’s not every day your 155 million dollar movie takes a country boy swing at things. It’s all helped especially by Glenn Powell and the soundtrack especially selling the hell out of it. I felt it, how hard did I ride it though? Or whatever Mr. Powell said.
I’ve been a longtime Minecraft player, my earliest memories of the game are playing on Xbox 360 with my four sisters. To put how long I’ve been playing into perspective, I played before creative mode was released. So, when the Minecraft Movie trailer was released, I was really excited to see one of my childhood games, a game that I still play to this day, come to life. Minecraft is a beloved game, not just to me, so its movie has been one of the most anticipated for fans. Being released in 2011, Minecraft has expanded into being one of the most iconic games of all time, getting several different spin-offs. Its fanbase is also one of the biggest, being an influential sphere of gaming & streaming. The past year of film has been a monumental time for video game movie adaptations. The Super Mario Bros. Movie (2023), The Five Nights at Freddy’s Movie (2023), Sonic the Hedgehog 3’s trailer (2024), and now the Minecraft Movie trailer. 
editors note: this is the second half of an unfiltered, unedited rant about the scary Chuck E. Cheese computer game
editors note: It is of the opinion of I, Tony Molina, content director of the SLC’s beloved stargazer that to preserve the original intent and manic nature of this recap- that it be presented untampered from the original state that it was presented to me. Be aware this is merely the first half of this typed monolith.
The Shining. If you were to walk around asking strangers about this movie, the chances are most of them would at least know of it, and those who had seen it would mostly agree–it’s a pretty solid horror movie. Some might even argue that it is the best horror movie, and these people are certainly not a minority, many people who have watched this movie rank it highly among the horror movies they’ve seen. Even now, 44 years later, this movie holds up and continues to terrify new and old audiences alike. Why?
2023 was one of the most memorable years for film. Perhaps even more memorable than the films themselves were the musical scores that accompanied them. From sweeping compositions, epic accompaniments, and subtle yet destructive themes; 2023 has given us some of the most memorable scores in recent years. Here are some of my favorites, listed in no particular order. 
Kendrick Lamar said that on Hood Politics from To Pimp a Butterfly. He was right in 2015 when the song was released the same way he was right in 2013 and right again in 2024. Anyone with any semblance of understanding of modern hip-hop history knows about the “Control” verse. Kendrick Lamar, fresh off of the success of good kid, m.A.A.d city, hops on Big Sean's single, in the few-year stretch, when he was a still prevalent pop rapper. Sean still wanted to show off that pride in dense lyricism that Detroit was known for, along with that he invited Jay Electronica to the track, who, off the strength of a single song, “Exhibit C,” became a white-hot prospect and immediately earned the respect of legends. Noticeably Jay-Z who co-signed and supported Electronica over the decade-long wait for his debut album. With all this hype around the track in mind, it was eclipsed entirely by what Kendrick did. 
On a calm December day, the masses were blessed with the gift of the first Kung Fu Panda 4 trailer. While most had not even known about the film’s existence, the gleeful surprise would be a chance to see our favorite characters once more: a lovable panda, a wise master, a cunning villain, but mostly a stern, ferocious, oddly attractive tiger voiced by Angelina Jolie. 
“She’s just trying to get to that audition,” Julio Torres says about “our Queen” Anna Faris’s protagonist character in Gregg Araki's Smiley Face. This is part of his answer I asked him in a college roundtable promoting his new Dramedy and directorial debut Problemista. The question being: “In an interview with the Hollywood reporter, you referred to your film as an example of an I-Don’t-know-how-i’m-gonna-make-the-rent genre. Are there other films or narratives that come from that same vein that helped inspire Problemista?” In his answer he delves into a few films that fall into that frantic and straightforward narratives rooted in common human experiences, but what struck me the most is his admiration of Smiley Face, with how apparent of an inspiration it is on Torres’s own refreshing film. Both follow a lead with ambitious dreams for their lives while dealing with the anxiety-inducing humdrum of low-income living. Smiley Face though has been relegated to cult-classic status, ultimately an unfortunately underwatched movie. Problemista doesn’t deserve that same fate. It’s a crowd pleasing wonderful time, with a lot to say on the chaotic positive potential of Karen-dom in the service of ambition. A uniquely modern theme that Torres gets so much mileage out of in this fast-paced gem of a movie.
