“We the Animals,” a beautiful dream

Filmmaker Jeremiah Zagar’s whimsical and potent feature film “We the Animals” hit Netflix at the beginning of this year after its limited run in theaters.  Based on the 2011 Justin Torres novel, the film follows Jonah (Evan Rosado) in a powerful debut performance. Jonah is the youngest of three brothers growing up in a mixed-race, working class family in upstate New York, stumbling along a turbulent road to self-discovery. After an awards season of immense critical praise for the generic, feel-good examination of race and …

Killer portrayal with a poorly executed story

“Extremely Wicked, Shockingly Evil and Vile,” attempts to tell the story of Ted Bundy through the eyes of his former longtime girlfriend, Elizabeth Kendall — and it does in not so great fashion, with more describing than showing. Throughout its entire 108-minute runtime, the biopic falls short on delivering anything resembling the title of the movie besides an “extremely wicked” performance by Zac Efron.

State of the students

As clouds of smoke from Ventura’s Woolsey fire forms in the distance, Pasadena City College (PCC) student Tanner Petterson sits in a shady spot on the edge of the mirror pools and waits until her afternoon class begins. She has ten minutes to spare, but instead of worrying about her class, she browses her phone and acknowledges the early golden hour. Meanwhile, a student on the other side of the pools lays on the grass, glued to a textbook, skimming through notes.

‘Dirty Money’: This is what rouge capitalism looks like

Imagine a lawyer describing in an interview; “They were actually going to have a human sitting on an exercise bike. They would then be exposed to gas directly from the diesel vehicles. And then, they would poke and prod that person later to determine, uh, what type of health effects they would see from this person being gassed.” This lawyer would then go on to say, “Obviously, one cannot help to think back throughout the history of another series of events involving individuals being gassed …

‘On My Block’ kicks authentic representation to the curb

Just like we all find ourselves binging on a variety of our favorite snacks, millennials look to Netflix for binge-worthy shows that distract them from reality for hours of the day. Some millennials take a deep interest in shows that they can relate to, especially a coming-of-age story about a group of young teens. Netflix’s, “On My Block,” isn’t just any average coming-of-age story.

‘The End of the F***ing World’: A sociopathic love story

In case you missed it, Netflix has become a really big deal, especially for the younger generation. Millenials are always looking for binge-worthy shows that allow them to connect to characters, to escape reality for a little while and to essentially find something that makes them feel like they are not alone in this crazy world. Netflix’s “The End of The F***ing World” does just that.