Andrew Raker
Lastest Stories by Andrew Raker
As the lackluster box office performance of Steven Spielberg’s new “West Side Story” – released 60 years after the original film version – goes to show, quality entertainment...
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A tradition unto itself, actor body transformations are also a relatively modern phenomenon. In fact, one might be hard-pressed to find a number of solid examples from before Robert De Niro’s...
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Hollywood aspires to offer audiences “likable” protagonists, but an iconic movie is often only as good as its primary villain. More than mere obstacles, these essential characters laugh in the...
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With its reliance on spectacle over substance, the action genre churns out more sub-standard fare than most counterparts. It’s then no surprise that the majority of action stars have at least a few...
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Ireland is rich in character and history alike and so too are many of the films that take place there. The most recent examples are Colm Bairéad’s “The Quiet Girl,” about a 9-year-old girl...
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As the foremost platform of music’s streaming era, Spotify offers a pointed glimpse into the enduring popularity of certain songs and artists. What the data on Spotify streams tells us is that...
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Successful sports movies often conjure an effect that’s similar to the experience of the real thing. Indeed, watching something like “Rocky” or “Any Given Sunday” for the first time is not...
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“Don’t call it a comeback, I been here for years,” rapped LL Cool J on the smash 1990 single “Mama Said Knock You Out.” The song did indeed help kick off a new chapter for the pioneering...
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Cinematic trends may come and go, but horror is the genre that just keeps on giving. Even when Hollywood is in a slump, a low or mid-budget horror movie comes out of nowhere to make an unexpected...
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Chart-topping singles can often seem simple enough to the average listener, but the truth is that crafting a blockbuster relies on a confluence of factors. Behind the scenes, the use of certain...
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Every decade of television is important to the medium’s overall evolution, and the 1980s were no exception. However, it was also a decade in which the majority of American shows played it...
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A historic decade for television, the 1990s was even more influential than its current reputation would suggest. Nearly everything that critics and audiences herald in modern TV was either introduced...
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With the debut of HBO’s “The Sopranos” there came a bold and exciting new era of modern television, which continues to evolve. Once considered inferior to film, TV is now often comparable to...
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The history of cinema offers no shortage of iconic oratoy, often delivered by world-famous actors. A fixture of sports biopics and courtroom dramas, among other genres, classic speeches also appear...
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When Hollywood loosened moral guidelines in the 1960s there came an immediate uptick in violent cinema, with “Bonnie & Clyde” being the most famous example. Yet Arthur Penn’s bloody crime...
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