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Nick Laureano | Tuesday, February 14, 2017
If you watched the Super Bowl for the commercials but don’t consider yourself a “car person,” then you might have found yourself wondering: What’s an Alfa Romeo? It’s a car, but the full answer to that question isn’t quite so simple. Perhaps as a function of its Italian heritage — with the racing credentials, beauty
Nick Laureano | Thursday, February 2, 2017
Why do I watch television? That’s perhaps not the best question to ask yourself, especially if you’re a TV studies major like me. Nonetheless, it’s one I’ve grappled with for as long as I can remember, and with heightened intensity in recent months. For obvious reasons, TV is now a source of angst and despair.
Nick Laureano | Monday, April 11, 2016
Writer’s Note: This analysis discusses specific plot points from “Boogie Nights.” I want everyone’s first viewing of “Boogie Nights” to be as magical as mine, so please refrain from reading further if you’ve not yet seen the movie. “Boogie Nights” — the 1997 cult classic that examined family, capitalism and America through the lens of
Nick Laureano | Monday, March 21, 2016
“And all at once I knew … ” Do you remember your first time? I sure do. There was music — strings, a xylophone and a harmonium. It was at once too loud and not loud enough, and it dovetailed with splashes of bright color, delivering synesthetic bliss. There’s nothing quite like seeing a Paul
Nick Laureano | Monday, March 14, 2016
If “Zootopia” — the latest movie from Walt Disney Animation Studios — has a major flaw, it is the delivery of its message. Like Brad Bird’s “The Incredibles,” a film that was more overtly objectivist than some Ayn Rand works, “Zootopia” wears its heart on its sleeve. But just because the message is hammered home doesn’t mean
Nick Laureano | Thursday, March 3, 2016
I’m generally skeptical of movie review aggregators like Rotten Tomatoes — quantitative measures like the algorithms applied by Rotten Tomatoes rob our appreciation and understanding of the movies. There are moments, however, when sites like Rotten Tomatoes are essential to understanding a movie. The release of Robert Eggers’ new horror movie, “The Witch,” ushered in one
Nick Laureano | Monday, February 29, 2016
“The #AcademyAwards are on ABC this year and people are honestly wondering if #TheForceAwakens will get a best picture nomination.” Two months ago, I tweeted this brash statement along with a screengrab of ABC’s Wikipedia page — specifically of the portion noting that ABC is a subsidiary of Disney. Disney, of course, purchased the “Star Wars”
Nick Laureano | Thursday, February 25, 2016
Colder. Longer. Higher. Lower. Faster. Slower. Grosser. Farther. Leonardo DiCaprio’s performance in “The Revenant” is one of “–ers.” What DiCaprio endured during the shoot for Alejandro Gonzalez Iñárritu’s film has become the stuff of legend: “I heard Leo ate raw bison liver!” “I heard he almost lost his fingers to frostbite!” “Did you know he ACTUALLY
Erin McAuliffe and Nick Laureano | Thursday, February 25, 2016
Following 2016 Junior Parents’ Weekend, Scene editor Erin McAuliffe and scene writer Nick Laureano reached out to their dads, Bob and Bert, for their thoughts on the state of the necktie. Below are some of the highlights of those conversations. Bob McAuliffe on ties: “Not a fan of the tie, actually the rash on
Nick Laureano | Thursday, February 18, 2016
Hollywood. It’s a commercial machine, one reliant on tentpole mega-movies that often stick to established narrative conventions and plumb the depths of nostalgia in order to appease a mass audience — anything for a buck. Of course, that’s not necessarily a bad thing, and no critic worth his salt would dismiss a movie just because