Anna Cheney
Bio
Putting my thoughts & feelings into words.
Stories (14/0)
‘Trainspotting’ (1996) Film Review
“Trainspotting” is defined as the practice of venturing to a railway station and logging the number of trains that one sees. Though the characters do, quite literally, idle along a railway and watch as trains pass by in one particular scene of Trainspotting, the term serves as a double-entendre in the context of this film; it also refers to the track marks left on one’s arm from the use of hypodermic drugs.
By Anna Cheney3 years ago in Geeks
'Full Metal Jacket' Film Review
I have always been particularly intrigued by films whose beginnings contrast with their endings in terms of both tone and themes. If there is a genre that I have explored the least thus far, it is war, but Stanley Kubrick’s Full Metal Jacket is much more than a war film; it presents themes which illustrate the psychological anguish that comes with serving in the military.
By Anna Cheney4 years ago in Serve
'Doctor Sleep' Film Review
Mike Flanagan takes on the job of adapting Stephen King’s novel, titled Doctor Sleep, but there is a catch: Flanagan’s film exists in the same universe as Stanley Kubrick’s adaptation of King’s The Shining. As soon as I was cognizant of this information, my feelings toward it were already conflicted. I was not going to criticize the film without having seen it, however—but, now that I have, I feel that it is appropriate for me to proceed with what I am going to say.
By Anna Cheney4 years ago in Horror
'Magnolia' Film Review
Paul Thomas Anderson’s Magnolia comprises multiple co-existent storylines, which are ultimately intertwined in different ways. The characters are tethered to each other somehow through various relationships, whether that be familial, romantic, friendly, or otherwise. Every one of these characters has something in common: they all represent a form of childhood trauma. The long-term effects of their troubled upbringings are presented rawly (one can argue that it is rather heavy-handed, though I disagree for reasons I will mention later), regarding thorny subject matters such as drug addiction, promiscuity, and molestation. When you look into the characters, you are supposed to see children who were, or are being exposed to the perils of the real world far too early.
By Anna Cheney5 years ago in Geeks
20 Facts About Stanley Kubrick's 'The Shining'
The Shining is not only arguably Stanley Kubrick's most notable film throughout his entire 48-year directorial career, but it is considered to be one of the most beloved cult classic horror films of all-time. There are many things to know about the story that Kubrick adapted from Stephen King's 1977 source material of the same title, but there are also plenty of things to know about what happened behind the scenes.
By Anna Cheney5 years ago in Geeks
'If....' Film Review
if…. was my introduction to Lindsay Anderson’s filmography, so upon my first viewing I was not at all familiar with his caliber as a director. The only name I really recognized in the cast was Malcolm McDowell, who gave one of my personal favorite performances in 1971 as Alexander DeLarge in Stanley Kubrick’s A Clockwork Orange. In this film, however, he plays an entirely different type of role from the notable one he would take on three years later—and it could possibly be his darkest.
By Anna Cheney5 years ago in Geeks
'Kill Your Darlings' Film Review
Background Information The Beat Generation was a literary movement formed in New York during a post-war era. The movement involved renowned authors such as Jack Kerouac, Allen Ginsberg, William S. Burroughs, and others. Kerouac initially coined the phrase "Beat Generation" to portray themselves as part of an anti-conformist youth movement. The "Beats," as they were called, practiced beliefs such as sexual liberation, romanticism, modernism, etc. Each of them had a reputation for being bohemian and hedonistic once their lifestyles became public knowledge. Some of the most highly-acclaimed classic literary works of all-time depicted their participation in the Beat Generation, such as Kerouac's On the Road and Ginsberg's Howl.
By Anna Cheney5 years ago in Geeks
'A Clockwork Orange' Film Review
A Clockwork Orange was the second Stanley Kubrick film I ever watched (after The Shining), and walking in with only the outline of the story in mind and not having read Anthony Burgess’s source material beforehand, I was staggered by how much it differed from my initial expectations. I had been told that it was an eccentric and deeply conceptual experience with a tinge of black humor—however, upon actually watching the film, I realized that it was so much more.
By Anna Cheney5 years ago in Geeks
My Thoughts on the Versace Family's Statements Against 'The Assassination of Gianni Versace'
Overview The second season of true-crime anthology series American Crime Story, subtitled The Assassination of Gianni Versace, "follows the real manhunt of serial killer Andrew Cunanan after he murdered five people, including the titular Italian fashion designer. While the season is not a documentary, and is formatted and dramatized in regular biographical television fashion, the real Versace family spoke out against the series.
By Anna Cheney5 years ago in Geeks
What We Know About the Upcoming Seasons of 'American Crime Story' So Far
American Crime Story is a true crime anthology series that was developed by Scott Alexander and Larry Karaszewski, with Ryan Murphy and Brad Falchuk as executive producers. Its debut season, subtitled The People v. O. J. Simpson, aired on FX in early 2016. The season, based on the 1996 novel The Run of His Life: The People v. O. J. Simpson by Jeffrey Toobin, documented the infamous murder trial of football running back Orenthal James "O. J." Simpson, who was accused of stabbing his wife, Nicole Brown Simpson, and her friend, Ron Goldman, to their deaths in 1994. Actor Cuba Gooding Jr. took on the role of O. J. himself, alongside other notable actors including Sarah Paulson as Marcia Clark, David Schwimmer as Robert Kardashian, John Travolta as Robert Shapiro, and many others.
By Anna Cheney5 years ago in Geeks
A Guide to Creating a Successful Fan Account on Instagram
Instagram is one of the largest social media platforms today, with an active user base of approximately 800 million. Fanpages comprise a large portion of those users. As a person who has owned multiple fan accounts on Instagram before, I have been through the process of creating a new account and making it grow over and over and over. Every step of setting up a new fan account is imprinted in my head at this point, so why not put that knowledge to good use and help you ease into the online fandom community?
By Anna Cheney5 years ago in Geeks
Why We Should Stop Comparing Prince and Michael Jackson
Years after the abrupt death of Michael Jackson in 2009, and then Prince in 2016, their presences in the music industry continue to be resurrected and commemorated today. Prince and Jackson have etched telltale signs of their existence all over the world through the impact of their artistry, and how it has evolved music. They left melodious sensations in their wake, not to mention the legacies of their personas.
By Anna Cheney5 years ago in Beat