Jack Torpey '24 (he/him) is an Arts and Culture Editor. He writes film reviews for the Reel Critic column.
Jack is studying English with a minor in Film and Media Culture. Outside The Campus, he works as a peer writing tutor at the Writing Center and is a member of the Middlebury Consulting Group.
Denis Villeneuve has never been shy about his adoration for “Lawrence of Arabia.” The 56-year-old Canadian filmmaker first saw David Lean’s 1962 epic when he was 19, and the film, which Villeneuve calls “the perfect movie,” has held a grip on his imagination ever since.
Popular culture. It’s the music we listen to, the movies we watch and, in this media-saturated twenty-first century, it seems to be the very air we breathe. There’s no escaping pop culture — just ask the Middlebury staff.
The Hirschfield International Film Series returned to Dana Auditorium on March 7, bringing an audience of Middlebury College students, faculty and community members an exclusive screening of one of 2023’s most celebrated films: “The Zone of Interest.” Written and directed by British filmmaker ...
Two years ago, I wrote an article in the lead-up to the Oscars spotlighting three award categories that typically get outshined by the major awards in the press. Well, sadly, my days of sticking up for cinema’s little guys are over, as this article is squarely focused on the splashiest titles on the ...
He is only two films in, but Bradley Cooper seems to have already found his thematic sweet spot as a director. “A Star is Born,” the 49-year-old actor’s 2018 directorial debut, swept audiences away with its music-centric retelling of a classic Hollywood romance, making a movie star out of Lady ...
Racing movies typically make for a fun time at the theater. Think “Rush,” Ron Howard’s moving 2013 Formula One drama starring Chris Hemsworth and Daniel Brühl, or “Ford v Ferrari,” the energetic 2019 blockbuster from James Mangold led by Matt Damon and Christian Bale. Those films follow sympathetic ...
After over a yearlong hiatus, the Hirschfield International Film Series is returning to Middlebury College. The upcoming Oct. 5 screening of “The Royal Hotel” marks the series’ first event since May 2022, offering the college community the chance to see an Australian social thriller the day before ...
Yes, “Oppenheimer” is that good. It is the best film of the year, the best of the decade so far and somehow one of the most impressive entries in the career of a director who has already given audiences so many modern classics. The hype around the film is real, and anyone who has not yet seen it ...
At the 2023 New York Film Critics Circle Awards, Martin Scorsese made one of his regular pronouncements on the state of cinema when he presented writer-director Todd Field with the Circle’s Best Film award. “The clouds lifted when I experienced Todd’s film, ‘Tár,’” Scorsese said. Referencing ...
“The Earth Is Blue as an Orange,” a 2020 Sundance-award-winning documentary about a Ukrainian mother and her children trying to live a normal life amidst the devastation of the Russo-Ukrainian War.
