The Divergent film series – based on the Young Adult trilogy by Veronica Roth – immediately felt like a cash-in on the success of The Hunger Games film franchise. Divergent is painful in its complexity: set in a typical YA post-apocalyptic future, Tris (Shailene Woodley) must navigate the walled city of Chicago, where factions are systemized by certain characteristics – Erudite is made up of the intelligentsia, Dauntless are warriors, etc. Initiates take a test…
By: Addison Wylie It was nice to see a young adult book series stick to its gritty tone and not feel the need to make it lighter for a mainstream audience. That’s exactly what The Hunger Games did with its first venture to the big screen. It did, however, succumb to attributes that felt reminiscent to other franchises with a widespread teen audience. One of these beats being complications with affection between two strapping young…
By: Addison Wylie The Lifeguard deals with the discouraging feeling of going nowhere and the urge to flee home for comfort. It’s a circumstance that some of us may be all too familiar with; especially those who are fresh out of their post-secondary education. Liz W. Garcia’s film, however, gets very little right about events that take place after the retreat to a personal turf. Garcia is able to capture that initial awkwardness that ensues…