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Travis Bean
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Travis Bean
Travis Bean is co-founder of Colossus. He writes about the impact of art on his life and the world around us.
Why Sharon Tate lives in Once Upon a Time in Hollywood
Even with my novice understanding of the horror genre, I have to say I was captivated by an incredibly nerdy, passionate horror movie discussion between Eli Roth and Quentin Tarantino on Roth’s podcast, History of Horror. This back-and-forth reminds me…
5 motifs that help us understand Baby Boy
Orson Welles made soooo many good movies. The Magnificent Ambersons. Othello. The Trial. F for Fake. Yet, outside of major film buffs, he’s pretty much only remembered for his very first feature film: Citizen Kane. What a strange curse, to…
The ending of First Reformed explained
Michael and Reverend Toller sit across from one another in this pivotal moment—the house dead silent, the atmosphere awkward, the space between them immense. Michael is distraught, scared to bring a child into a world he believes will soon become…
Jonah Hill’s obsession with Kanye West: why Mid90s is more complex than you think
There are a lot of things we know about Jonah Hill. He was born on Dec. 20, 1983; he worked at Hot Rod Skateboard Shop in L.A.; he made his film debut in I Heart Huckabees; he’s been nominated for…
Understanding Andrea Arnold’s filmography
Every cinephile has those collection of moments that change everything, that convince them of a filmmaker’s prowess. I’ve had a few: the frogs falling in Magnolia; a mystical tiger perched in a tree, staring at Keng in Tropical Malady; that…
When Chris chokes Rose: Get Out’s rallying cry against racism in America
Think back to the first few months of Trump’s America. Crazy shit, right? Especially if you voted for Hillary Clinton. There was so much despondency among young people and liberals who, just hours after the results, were already yearning for…
Understanding Apichatpong Weerasethakul’s filmography
After two hours of meandering, disconnected people—both citizens of the present-day Thailand and souls of the distant past—wandering the streets and schools and hospitals of Khon Kaen, Cemetery of Splendour dedicates one of its final shots to a humdrum aerobics…
Explaining the end of The Elephant Man
It speaks of David Lynch’s absolute discipline that his first Oscar-bait feature didn’t opt for a hokey or crowd-pleasing ending. The closing moments of The Elephant Man are tragic, forceful, and ambiguous all at once, but more than anything, Lynch’s…
Blue Velvet Explained | In Dreams I Walk With You
Think of the most controversial films of the last few years. Drive certainly fit the bill for 2011, in both its lack of action sequences and its viewers’ anti-Semitic readings of the film. In 2010, people were equally turned off…
Explaining the end of The Big Sick
Kumail is performing in an New York comedy club. In the middle of his bit, he hears a “woo-hoo!” And, wouldn’t you know it, it’s Emily with some of her friends. He tells her that yelling at a comedian during…
The case for each “father” in Bridget Jones’s Baby
It’s the central question of Bridget Jones’s Baby: Who is the father? Is it Mark? Is it Jack? Is it the ghost of Hugh Jackman? Well we’re here to tell you! At the end of the film, we see Bridget walking,…
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