film

Andre the Giant (dir. Jason Hehir)

/ James P. Crowley / Leave a comment

My knowledge of pro-wrestling for the most part starts and ends with the Mountain Goats’ 2015 album Beat the Champ[i].  Prior to that album, it seemed like big guys performing a high energy stage show for an audience of drunk idiots.  What John Darnielle does so well is showing that limited and first impressions are very often wrong.  Beat the Champ is an album that really humanizes so many different aspects of wrestling: the matches, the fans, and the wrestlers.  Like the Mountain Goats album, Andre the Giant was a similar experience.  It educated me on something I thought would just be a weird anomaly.  HBO’s Andre the Giant sheds light on the mythic Andre Roussimoff that is engaging for both fans and casual viewers. Continue reading →

A Negative Review of Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri (dir. Martin McDonagh)

/ Marisa Winckowski / Leave a comment

It didn’t have to be this way. In the hands of a better director or a better screenwriter, this could have been a really poignant story about grief and redemption. Instead it’s a melodramatic, sloppy, grim and empty husk of a movie with absolutely no idea what its thesis statement was. This has the stench of an Oscar-bait movie written on a time constraint, with some of the most awkwardly stilted dialogue, the most contrived coincidences and one of the most abrupt endings of 2017.

Spoilers:
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Kendrick Lamar (& Various Artists)-The Black Panther (Music from and Inspired by the Film)

/ James P. Crowley / Leave a comment

Prepare for the Black Panther to be your new favorite Avenger.  Not only is the film opening to rave reviews, the excellent Ta-Nehisi Coates now writes the comics, and we’ve been granted worthy enough to receive this incredible soundtrack curated by Kendrick Lamar, featuring a who’s who of hip hop.  Kendrick is the reigning king of rap, and his production and choices have made this the most fun rap album to come in a long time. Continue reading →

A Futile and Stupid Gesture (dir. David Wain)

/ James P. Crowley / Leave a comment

It’s not surprising that a biopic about National Lampoon founder Doug Kenney (played by Will Forte) would come out right now.  With Netflix’s dedication to weekly comedy specials, the importance of SNL, and the evolution of social-media to share comedy, of course, it’s timely to release a movie about one of the most influential forces in comedy.  A Futile and Stupid Gesture is both hilarious and dramatic, bringing to life both the excitement and burden of living in the comedy world.  While easily watchable and very entertaining, there are certain aspects that leave the audience a little confused and unsure of how they’re supposed to feel.

Spoilers[i]: Continue reading →

Introducing the Burger-A-Day Podcast: 1. School of Rock

/ Burger-A-Day Staff / Leave a comment

Welcome to the inaugural Burger-A-Day podcast. On it BurgerADay.com contributors James Crowley and Marisa Winckowski discuss music, movies, and pop culture. On this debut episode, they discuss Richard Linklater’s 2003 musical comedy School Of Rock-its lasting impact, mass appeal, later adaptations, and how the view towards it changes with age.

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Happy Death Day (Dir. Christopher B. Landon)

/ Marisa Winckowski / Leave a comment

I can’t say Happy Death Day is particularly frightening, nor is it particularly funny. The plot twist is pretty contrived, it gets frustratingly repetitive and there are moments that just don’t make sense even within its own fantasy universe. So why did I enjoy this so much? This is a case in which so many of the moving parts are messy and dysfunctional but they inexplicably come together as a cohesive whole. It’s like being on one of those giant carnival slides over and over again, or watching a fidget spinner. Continue reading →

The Glass Castle: A Review and Reflection

/ Eirini Melena Karoutsos / Leave a comment

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Before the film adaptation’s release, here’s some insight into Jeannette Walls’ modern classic The Glass Castle.

Spending another week on The New York Times’ Bestseller List and on it’s way to theatres, The Glass Castle continues to be a memoir that holds the public’s attention.  If for some reason you managed to escape the media storm surrounding the movie, Glass Castle is the memoir of Jeannette Walls, currently a successful writer and journalist in New York, but once a girl living a rootless lifestyle with two erratic parents.  Glass Castle has been out since 2005, but I find when a book holds the public’s attention for this long without fanfare and merchandise of midnight releases and chest tattoos, it’s important to ask why. Continue reading →

The Little Hours (dir. Jeff Baena)

/ Marisa Winckowski / Leave a comment

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A loose parody of 14th century novel The Decameron, The Little Hours (dir. Jeff
Baena) features Dave Franco as a runaway who, pretending to be a deaf-mute, starts
hooking up with nuns at a convent. The entire cast is a comedy powerhouse- Nick Offerman, Molly Shannon, Alison Brie, Aubrey Plaza, Fred
Armisen, and John C. Reilly. Clearly, some effort was made to cast people with excellent
comic timing. Continue reading →