Theater & Film – The Oberlin Review

Nuanced Adaptation of “All This Intimacy” Opens in Kander

October 11, 2019

A poet who commits a string of infidelities, conceiving three children with three different women in the process, is certainly an interesting set-up for a student performance. Oberlin’s production of Rajiv Joseph’s play, All This Intimacy follows protagonist Ty Greene through the above events with a re-imagined tone. Brought to life by fantastic performances under the direction of College fourth-year Abigail Bowman, the play is a fundamentally human drama, full of genuine and flawed characters. All This Inti...

“Joker” Brings Controversy, Brutality to Box Office

Kushagra Kar, Production Editor

October 11, 2019

Be warned, Joker is no laughing matter. The brutally honest truth of the matter is that I am horrified. Through every moment of the film and each subsequent second since I walked out of the Apollo Theatre, a deep discomfort has pervaded my mind. To say that Todd Phillips’ 2019 psychological thriller Joker is a departure from conventional comic book movies would be an understatement. I’ve felt this shock before, with James Mangold’s 2017 Logan, which was a breath of fresh, unnervingly profane air. The film was rich in great character moments to supplement the enjoyable superhero beats. Yet, Joker does something far more impressive — blurring the conventional lines that define the genre of comic book films. J...

Art and Gender: Behind Japanese Noh Theater

Carson Dowhan, Senior Staff Writer

September 27, 2019

Last weekend, Oberlin students and residents had the chance to experience Japanese Noh theater, presented by Hisa and Hikaru Uzawa, during the mother-daughter duo’s college campus tour. On Wednesday, they also led a Noh music workshop that taught chant notation, breathing, and posture. Developed by Zeami Motokiyo, Noh theater has been around since the late 14th century. Noh stages, constructed with Japanese cypress, are tailored specifically to the needs of the play. A bridge called a hasigakari protrudes from stage right, where actors walk onstage through a curtain called an agemaku. There are three pine trees in front of the hasigakari which lead to the butai, the main stage, designed to give a sense o...

“Hustlers” Promises Radical Feminism, Delivers Tired Tropes

Lyala Khan

September 27, 2019

I must have watched the trailer for Hustlers at least 10 times. I’ve been waiting for it’s release since the day it was announced, and I even showed up to the theater early to get the best seats. The first 30 minutes did not disappoint, delivering one of the sexiest movie openings I have ever seen. Jennifer Lopez first appears on the screen performing a confident, sexy, and unbeatable dance as Ramona, the star of the strip club. This five-minute showcase proves that J. Lo’s Ramona exudes power, and she knows it. Another iconic moment follows this stunning entry when the two main characters, Ramona and Destiny, played by Constance Wu, meet on the roof. Ramona is wrapped in a beautiful fur and smoking a cigare...

“Hamlet” Adapted for One-Woman Show Running this Weekend

September 27, 2019

But Never Doubt I Love is a one-woman show compiled by double-degree fifth-year Marina Wright, pictured above, who has performed in various campus productions and has wanted to direct a show of her own since her second year. Her years of experience are truly brought to the fore with this phenomenal 30-minute act that adapts Shakespeare’s Hamlet. Wright successfully brings the entire project together with a compelling and enjoyable performance, especially highlighted by the liveliness of the show�...

“Tall Girl” Highlights Questionable Values for Young Girls

September 20, 2019

First, I must clarify that I am five feet and three inches short on a good day, so I do not have personal experience with being shamed for being tall: if anything, the opposite is true. Though I am critical of this film, I am in no way denying that high school is brutal and that bullying is a rampant problem with serious and lasting consequences. Additionally, the lead actor Ava Michelle has actually been at the receiving end of public bullying for being too tall, well documented in her stint on...

A Look Behind the Scenes: Choreographing Physical Intimacy

September 13, 2019

As a younger actor, I remember times when I sat across from the actor playing my romantic interest, each of us stumped by the next line in the script: “The two share a passionate kiss.” “Let’s skip that part,” I’d suggest, timidly. While it’s possible to side-step around this stage direction for the first few weeks of rehearsal, the moment inevitably comes when the intimate scene must get staged. In my experience, what follows has ranged from giggling teenage awkwardness t...

Grown-up Losers Club Confronts Evil Clown in “IT: Chapter Two”

Kushagra Kar, Production Editor

September 13, 2019

Clowns can be fun. They prance around in their absurdly large shoes, make balloon animals, and usually have no qualms about cracking the occasional slapstick joke. However, popular culture has not been kind to this wholesome community, often depicting clowns as the kind of monster that will hide under our beds. If IT Chapter Two can teach us anything, it’s that clowns have feelings too, and all they really want to is to make friends. It (2017) and its recent sequel follow the story of seven teenagers (known as “The Losers Club”) as they face down Pennywise the Dancing Clown. Played by Bill Skarsgård, Pennywise is a monster shrouded in mystery, inevitably leading to endless exposition that slowly unveils his o...

Looking Beneath the Laughs in Coming-of-Age Comedy “Good Boys”

Casey Troost

September 6, 2019

Based on the trailer, it’s easy to compare Good Boys to previous action-comedies like Superbad, Bad Teacher, Year One, and Bad Grandpa. However, while the humor of comparable movies is often delivered by adults or teenagers, Good Boys shifts the focus to three youthful and inexperienced pre-teens. In Good Boys, most of the comedy comes from scenes in which the three naive protagonists, called “The Bean Bag Boys,” misinterpret the adult content they come into contact with. For example, Thor, one of the three Bean Bag Boys, mistakes a BDSM mask in his parent’s closet for protective wear and puts it on to answer the door for a stranger. While I enjoyed the comedy in the film, I question whether I should have...

New Netflix Thriller Chambers Highlights Native Identities

Jackie Brant, Opinions Editor

May 10, 2019

Chambers, an innovative new Netflix horror series, premiered last month and has received mixed reviews amidst a growing genre of horror-themed TV shows. The storyline follows the main character Sasha, a Native teenager living in Arizona who receives a heart transplant from a girl named Becky (Lillya Scarlett Reid). After Sasha connects with Becky’s parents, mysterious and dangerous events begin to unfold surrounding Becky’s death, and Sasha attempts to uncover what really happened to Becky. The show features breakout star Sivan Alyra Rose, supported by numerous veteran actors including Uma Thurman and Tony Goldwyn. Chambers has been criticized for being too slow and incorporating too many elements of classic ...

Alum Film CRSHD Screens at Apollo Theater Next Thursday

Carson Dowhan, Senior Staff Writer

May 3, 2019

Emily Cohn, OC ’17, will present a free screening of her first full-length film, CRSHD, at the Apollo Theatre at 7 p.m. on Thursday, May 9. The event is sponsored by the Cinema Studies department and Alumni Office. CRSHD’s world premiere was April 30 at the Tribeca Film Festival in New York; the film’s portrayal of female sexuality was lauded by festival representatives. Though CRSHD is Cohn’s longest project yet, clocking in at 80 minutes, Cohn has years of experience creating short films. The film speaks to a younger, millennial audience through its awkward college humor and social media antics, complete with sequences of fantasy and engaging physical interpretations of the apps Instagram, Tinder, and Facebook...

“Avengers: Endgame” Rocks the Box Office

Kabir Karamchandani, Staff Writer

May 3, 2019

Editor’s Note: This review contains major spoilers for the movie Avengers: Endgame. With a $1.5 billion worldwide gross in its opening week, Avengers: Endgame is undeniably one of the biggest cinematic events in recent history — and perhaps the biggest of all time. To start, I have to confess to being a Marvel fan. I have watched every movie in the Marvel Cinematic Universe and am deeply invested in the characters and world. As the culminating moment of the series, Endgame has little in the way of emotional stakes for viewers new to the franchise, but excels as a finale. It has no small amount of crowd-pleasing moments and spotlights several touching new developments in character relationships establishe...