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The Problematics
Not all movies age like a fine wine. Enter: The Problematics. As social mores continue to evolve and change, this series puts some of cinema’s most memorable films under a microscope and determines whether or not their themes, performances, and overall craftmanship outweigh their often outdated sensibilities.
The Latest
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The Problematics
The Problematics: 'National Lampoon's Vacation' Turns 40, The Same Middle Age Of Its Protagonist Clark Griswold
John Hughes really believed in pot as a great leveler of disparate communities, that much is certain. -
Like Deep Throat, Debbie proved to have franchise power.
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The Problematics
The Problematics: 'Risky Business' At 40, a Movie Where Hookers, Teenage Boys, And Capitalism Collide
“Sometimes you gotta say what the f***.” -
The Problematics
The Problematics: 'A Fish Called Wanda,' A Movie In Which A Sociopath With A Speech Impediment Murders Small Puppies
A comedic classic or an ableist nightmare? -
The Problematics
The Problematics: 'The Blue Lagoon', An Off-Putting Fairy Tale About The Joys Of Cousins Copulating
The depictions of sex are mostly “artful nudes” with a schmear of American smarminess. -
The movie, inasmuch as it is a romance at all, is a romance of necrophilia. So why are they remaking it?
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The Problematics
The Problematics: 'Falling Down' at 30, A Proto-MAGA Parable Starring A Downsized Michael Douglas
The movie winds up being part of the problem its trying to lament. -
The Problematics
The Problematics: 'Old School' at 20, In Which Depraved Frat Party Hijinks Extend Into Middle Age
All in all, Old School is more “meh” and product-like than genuinely objectionable. -
The Problematics
The Problematics: Did Today's Pervasive "Mr. Skin" Culture Lead To The 'Romeo And Juliet' Lawsuit?
After the Production Code was abandoned, filmmakers like Franco Zeffirelli spent the '60s taking advantage of what could be called “the new freedoms.” -
The Problematics
The Problematics: The Foul-Mouthed 'Ted' Always Aimed To Offend, And 10 Years Later, You Can't Say It Didn't Succeed
"You ever hear a Boston girl have an orgasm?" Every possible sexual, ethnic, and religious button gets crudely pushed in this Seth MacFarlane joint. -
The Problematics
The Problematics: 'Overboard', A Romantic Comedy In Which Kidnapping is…No Big Deal?
One of the great things about romantic comedies is that traumas that normally require years of treatment to untangle are forgiven and forgotten before the end titles roll. -
The Problematics
The Problematics: Bo Derek's Reign As Hollywood's Erotic Goddess Began With '10', An Absurd Both-Ways Male Fantasy
Might as well face it: watched today, this movie seems to take place on another planet. -
The Problematics
The Problematics: Is 'Top Gun' A Fist-Pumping Paragon Of Patriotism Or A War-Mongering Celluloid Hell Beast?
Which side are YOU on? -
The Problematics
The Problematics: 'American Gigolo' Made Breakthroughs in Full Frontal Male Nudity And Its Treatment of Sex Workers, But Is It Homophobic?
When Julian (Richard Gere) goes looking for Leon (Bill Duke) in a gay club called The Probe, Julian's trajectory is depicted as a literal descent. -
The Problematics
The Problematics: Is 'My Big Fat Greek Wedding' A Stereotype Parade Or Simply A Paragon Of Ethnic Humor?
This legit blockbuster made almost $400MM worldwide, and turned 20 this month. -
Recreational drug use is a sticky wicket, as they say.
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The Problematics
The Problematics: Are the Progressive Bonafides of 1982's 'Victor/Victoria' Still Valid?
You can't please everyone. -
300 broke Glenn Kenny's brain.
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The Problematics
The Problematics: 'Pretty Woman', A Date Movie Wherein Prostitution Looks Positively Quaint
To its credit, the movie never lets the elephant in the room leave the table, such as it is. -
The Problematics
The Problematics: 'What Women Want,' In Which The Power To Read Female Minds Is Bestowed Upon (Oh Boy) Mel Gibson
It never outrightly crosses the line from awkward to outright hateful, but it messes around on that line a lot.