Hyperreal Film Journal

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Baby Blood: Make Pregnancy Gross Again

Baby Blood: Make Pregnancy Gross Again

Baby Blood transgressively counters the ever so nauseating idealized, kitsch aesthetic of pregnancy that we are accustomed to. The kitsch aesthetic of pregnancy arises out of societal expectations of what a mother should be, transforming what is a neutral occurrence into a moral imperative. The horror aesthetic in Baby Blood turns these expectations on their head, creating a narrative that encourages the pregnant character to refuse all repressive expectations of motherhood and pregnancy she encounters.

Analysis, ReviewsShayna NowickiMay 28, 2024Baby Blood, Alain RobakComment

Carl Weathers made Predator’s Dillon a son of a bitch worth mourning

Carl Weathers made Predator’s Dillon a son of a bitch worth mourning

Predator (1987) is, in its own quiet way, an actor’s movie. And then there’s the late, great Carl Weathers, whose soldier-turned-CIA-creep Dillon is the most complex character in Predator—a role that sees Weathers thread a tricky dramatic needle with skill and panache.

AnalysisJustin HarrisonApril 29, 2024Predator, John McTiernan, Arnold Schwarzenegger, Carl Weathers, Kevin Peter Hall, Predator (1987), Cold War, Bill Duke, CIAComment

Saltburn, The Talented Mr. Ripley, and Class Relations on Film

Saltburn, The Talented Mr. Ripley, and Class Relations on Film

Since Saltburn’s 2022 release, critics have noted it’s similarities to The Talented Mr. Ripley, often for worse.

AnalysisZachary DiazApril 22, 2024Saltburn, The Talented Mr. Ripley, Barry Keoghan, Jacob Elordi, Emerald Fennell, Matt Damon, Jude Law, Anthony Minghella, class conflict, Eat the Rich films, Eat the Rich, England, Archie Madekwe, Cate Blanchett, Gwyneth Paltrow, capitalismComment

Domestic Discontent: Todd Haynes and the American Housewife

Domestic Discontent: Todd Haynes and the American Housewife

A deep dive into the figure of the American housewife in Todd Haynes’ films.

AnalysisTory GranfieldApril 1, 2024Todd Haynes, housewife, American housewife, semiotics, Safe, Julianne Moore, Far From Heaven, Douglas Sirk, Patricia Highsmith, The Price of Salt, Cate Blanchett, Rooney MaraComment

Musings on Bimbos

Musings on Bimbos

One need only look at the Blockbuster hit of the past summer, Barbie, to see that the Bimbo is once again gracing our screens.

AnalysisCiena LeshleyMarch 5, 2024barbie, gentlemen prefer blondes, marilyn monroe, legally blonde, reese witherspoon, the house bunny, anna faris, overboard, goldie hawnComment

Spawn of the Dead

Spawn of the Dead

2004 brought two prolific genre directors reanimating the Romero legacy for the 21st century, with wildly different approaches, at almost exactly the same time.

AnalysisMike JohnsonMarch 4, 2024Dawn of the Dead, Shaun of the Dead, Zach Snyder, Edgar Wright, George RomeroComment

Sad Girl (™) Core: Priscilla and Marie Antoinette in Conversation

Sad Girl (™) Core: Priscilla and Marie Antoinette in Conversation

Let Sofia Coppola make a movie about every woman who’s ever lived.

Reviews, AnalysisRandi RedingJanuary 29, 2024Priscilla, Elvis Presley, Priscilla Presley, Sophia Coppola, Jacob Elordi, Marie Antoinette, Caliee Spaeny Comment

Ascending Art: Elevator to the Gallows and Miles Davis

Ascending Art: Elevator to the Gallows and Miles Davis

Miles Davis’ breathtaking trumpet score elevates Louis Malle’s 1958 Elevators to the Gallows to a mid-century classic, enshrining a moment of musical evolution in film.

AnalysisLevi MethvinSeptember 5, 2023Elevator to the Gallows, Miles Davis, Louis Malle, Jeanne Moreau, French New Wave, JazzComment

Ghost in the Shell (1995): Destroying the Illusion of Self

Ghost in the Shell (1995): Destroying the Illusion of Self

Mamoru Oshii’s Ghost in the Shell (1995) interrogates the idea of self, collective and non-self, marrying Buddhist and Abrahamic philosophies.

AnalysisAP DwivediAugust 22, 2023Ghost in the Shell, Mamoru Oshii, animeComment

Paul Schrader Movie Mad Lib

Paul Schrader Movie Mad Lib

Paul Schrader’s movies follow such a clear formula that you can make a Madlibs from it. In fact, we did just that, roping in a couple of other Hyperreal contributors to imagine their own Schrader movies.

AnalysisForest DeLozierJuly 10, 2023Comment

Dissonant Assemblages: Martine Syms' The African Desperate

Dissonant Assemblages: Martine Syms' The African Desperate

The African Desperate is indisputably a comedy, but the visceral feelings it elicits span the spectrum. There is an uneasy undercurrent to the whole film that unmoors all of its relationships and hints at all types of violence.

AnalysisJulia HebnerJune 26, 2023Comment

Camp Becomes Her

Camp Becomes Her

You have to know the rules to break the rules. Camp is the glowing pink tonic that keeps Death Becomes Her forever fresh all these years later.

AnalysisKathryn BaileyMay 8, 2023Death Becomes Her, Bruce WillisComment

Ravenous: American Capitalism at its Finest

Ravenous: American Capitalism at its Finest

Is there a better monster myth for a movie about America than the cannibal?

AnalysisZiah GraceMay 1, 2023RavenousComment

The Many Flavors of 1991’s Popcorn

The Many Flavors of 1991’s Popcorn

Metafictional horror comedy five years before Wes Craven’s Scream isn’t the only reason to love Popcorn.

AnalysisBailey MooreApril 17, 2023PopcornComment

Hung Up on Girl 6

Hung Up on Girl 6

The film was more or less disavowed by Spike Lee and writer Suzan-Lori Parks, but Girl 6 remains a thoughtful, complicated look at sex work and Black womanhood.

AnalysisKatie WilliamsApril 3, 2023Girl 6 Comment

Mother of God! Nunsploitation at the movies

Mother of God! Nunsploitation at the movies

Encountering a dark night of the soul, may you find beckoning reflections in these unfortunate onscreen sisters, whose lives might feel downright relatable.

Roses are Red, Vylette’s are PINK in 1999’s Jawbreaker

Roses are Red, Vylette’s are PINK in 1999’s Jawbreaker

What’s more entertaining than murder? Being popular in high school, of course!

AnalysisThe StarMarch 22, 2023JawbreakerComment

Junkspace Cinema and the transformation of physical space in movies

Breaking cinema down into Architectural and Musical modes of filmmaking.

AnalysisSachin BennyMarch 13, 2023Heat, Avatar, La La Land, WhiplashComment

Robert Eggers: Stylization Through Dialect

Robert Eggers: Stylization Through Dialect

A look at how director Robert Eggers’ use of historically accurate dialects brings his films to life.

AnalysisTroy BurkeFebruary 16, 2023Robert Eggers, The Witch, The Lighthouse, The Northman, dialogueComment

Infrastructure Romance

Infrastructure Romance

Romance built on a very specific foundation.

AnalysisSachin BennyFebruary 8, 2023Columbus, Only Lovers Left Alive, Undine Comments