Originally written for publication on mieuxmag.com. J.I.D lit up Tallahassee in an explosive performance for the first leg of the Catch Me If You Can Tour on Wednesday, March 13, 2019. The East Atlanta playboy had all of Potbelly’s jumping to his jams from “The Never Story” and “DiCaprio 2” the entire night and even […]
Author: mckenzie
Where is Donnie’s Mind? How Agency of Mentally Ill Drives “Donnie Darko”
Richard Kelly’s 2001 film Donnie Darko was deemed controversial at its release and flopped commercially, most likely because no plot surrounding a crashed jet engine would have been received well just after the tragedies of 9/11. However, thanks to an influx of sales during its DVD release, the movie inspired critical analysis and a cult […]
Short Analysis of Alfred Hitchcock’s Psycho
The recurrence of birds, specifically “deathbirds,” is a classic horror convention. In “Visual Style,” Richard Allen says, “In Psycho, the main character, Norman Bates, a psychotic murderer, is not simply likened to birds of prey, but to stuffed birds of prey. … he articulates the key significance of the death bird as the figuration of […]
Short Analysis of The Birds and Richard Allen’s “Visual Style”
Hitchcock is well-known for his distinct filmography and bold cinematic choices. One rationale for the specific expressionist themes found in his film The Birds (1963) is the exposure of superficiality of an interpretation that is simply psychological (Allen, 46). Meaning, a threat that has an actual physical presence could be perceived as much more horrifying. […]
Short Analysis of Phantom of the Opera (1924)
Phantom of the Opera (1924) is a classic horror film and was a perfect example of certain points in Katerina Bantinaki’s “Paradox of Horror.” Feelings of anxiety, dread, and discomfort that usually accompany a fear, such as a movie, are much less intense when we are able to control how much we take in from […]
Saba “CARE FOR ME” Tour 2018 Recap
April 20, 2018 This young indie rapper is not who’d you expect to crawl out of the woodworks of Westside Chicago spitting bars about kicking it at his grandma’s crib. Not only did Saba grow up with the SaveMoney Crew, (Chance the Rapper, Joey Purp, Towkio, Vic Mensa, Thelonius Martin, Kami, BJ The Chicago Kid, and more) […]
J. Cole ‘KOD’ Album Review
J. Cole dropped a drug-dissing album on 4/20. Still, stoners everywhere were sparking up to those tracks that day. Just a few hours before the album drop, Cole took to Twitter to explain the title in three different ways: Kids On Drugs, King Overdosed, and Kill Our Demons. This highly anticipated fifth album following his […]
Verse Annotation: “Somewhere, Nowhere, USA”
Chance the Rapper is known today as one of the most uplifting and spiritually complex hip-hop artists. Growing up in a bad part of Chicago formed everything about whom this artist is; he uses his platform to raise awareness about certain social issues such as racism, gentrification, cultural appropriation, and many more. However, the only […]