In 2014, Universal Studios attempted to capitalize on Marvel and Disney’s successful cinematic universe by introducing their own Dark Universe. The Dark Universe, starting and ending with the unsuccessful films Dracula Untold and The Mummy, was a flagrant attempt of shoehorning famous Universal movie monsters into their own franchise to warrant the production of cheap, predictable thriller films.

In 2019 director Jeff Wadlow gave the world Truth or Dare—a failed Blumhouse Productions experiment designed to make a terrifying flick out of a children’s game. This past weekend, Wadlow again attempted to create a horror movie from the painfully un-scary source material with Blumhouse’s Fantasy Island.

On Sunday Feb. 9 the campus community enjoyed the Geneseo Wind Quintet’s spring concert in Doty Recital Hall. This performance kicks off a series of concerts sponsored by the Geneseo Music Department this semester.

Director Guy Ritchie has an incredibly polarizing portfolio. For every Ritchie-directed subversive crime film like Snatch (2002), he helms a piece of derivative schlock like Aladdin (2019) or King Arthur (2017). Now, like an early unfurling of the new decade’s possibilities, Ritchie appears to be starting a new phase of unique filmmaking with his latest release, The Gentleman.

Whether binging a favorite television show or watching the latest movies dropping on Netflix, attendees at any viewing circle are going to be met with the inevitable question: should the subtitles be on? 

Read about the memorable movies of the 2010s as we get ready for 2020!

Few films can beat the unprecedented staying power of Stanley Kubrick’s The Shining. Based on the popular Stephen King novel of the same name, The Shining is lauded as one of the best and most perplexing horror films of all time despite being panned by critics on initial release, King being the most vocal among them. 

Parasite, directed by Bong Joon-ho, has been touted as one of the most intriguing releases of the year. After all, Joon-ho, critically acclaimed director of films like Snowpiercer and Okja, won the prestigious Palme d’Or at the 2019 Cannes Film Festival for the film. With the film now out on wide release, audiences can finally experience what all the buzz is about. 

Since the debut of his 2015 feature The Witch, rookie director Robert Eggers took his place with other popular rising horror directors on account of his debut’s unique style and phenomenal writing. Following his first-period piece’s success, Eggers has decided to take audiences from the woods of colonial New England to the sea in The Lighthouse, which premiered in theaters on Oct. 18.

In the early days of zombie horror movie fatigue, Ruben Fleischer revitalized the genre with his critically and commercially successful Zombieland. Zombieland managed to combine self-referential, absurd humor and gory action with an incredible ensemble of acting talent. After 10 years, Fleischer, along with the original film’s star-studded cast, is bringing audiences back to the apocalypse with Zombieland: Double Tap.

Violent media, including films and video games, have garnered significant controversy over the years given the rise of mass violence in the United States and throughout the world. The latest comic book-inspired film from Warner Bros., Joker, is no exception to speculation from a confused and frustrated public. 

For this year’s Walter Harding Lecture at Doty Recital Hall on Wednesday Sept. 25, composer Gregory Spears gave a lecture on “Thoreau and Music.” This talk followed a public musical coaching session between Spears and musical theatre major junior Rocky Nardone. 

No film genre has been more impacted by the fad of remakes than horror. Since the mid-2000s, horror movies have been the subject of numerous revivals and remakes that received mixed levels of success. 

Director Ari Aster earned horror fans’ attention last year with his feature directorial debut Hereditary. The film was praised for its spectacular performances, slow burn tension and phenomenal cinematography. Thanks to such a strong showing, much anticipation had built around Aster’s latest release, Midsommar.

Since George Romero’s trailblazing 1968 classic, Night of the Living Dead, zombies have remained a strong force in entertainment as mindless, shambling corpses with a taste for flesh. While the premise is scary enough, zombies have been degraded in the public eye from legitimate threats to easy targets for the protagonist to easily dispose of. This trope changed with Danny Boyle’s 2002 post-apocalyptic horror film, 28 Days Later. 

Unlike Get Out, which focused more on psychological horror, Us takes its horror in a far more conventional direction. Moments of white-knuckle tension, jump scares and violent kills serve to please horror fans looking for something closer to a typical slasher-style film. These elements are very well done and differentiate it from other horror films.

For more than 11 years, Marvel Studios has released a plethora of superhero films, introducing audiences to an entire roster of superhuman heroes and villains. This past weekend, Marvel expanded their eclectic cast of characters with Anna Boden and Ryan Fleck’s Captain Marvel.