Vaughn‘s film reviews with a twist! Each week, the Review Roulette wheel lands on an approach that I then use to watch and review a film from the 20th century
Latest Posts
- Funny Women Belong in the Kitchen, Separating Eggs and Folding Cheese
A (Kinda) Formalist Approach to Woman of the Year (1942) - Philosophy 101: Of Owls and Weasels
A Sound/Score Approach to The Defiant Ones (1958) - Catherine’s Talent isn’t O’Fair-a
A Contemporary History Approach to Waiting for Guffman (1996) - You Can’t Bogart Love
A Comparative Approach to Sabrina (1995) - The Parable of the Have-Nots
A Textual Approach to Dear God (1996) Dear God (1996)… - The Gravitational Pull of Hollywood’s Star
An Actor’s Oeuvre Approach to Charade (1963) - DEFCON 1 Levels of Charisma
A Formalist Approach to An Affair to Remember (1957) - Tech Bros Ruin Everything, but Most of All Christmas
A Marxist Approach to Santa Claus: The Movie (1985) - You’ve Got Male
The Shop Around the Corner (1940) – Feminism (Kinda) - It’s a Festive Existential Depression, Mickey Rooney
A Dualist Approach to The Year Without A Santa Claus (1974) - In Santa We Trust
A Disciplinary Approach to Miracle on 34th Street (1994) - It’s a Gendered Disaster, Charlie Brown
A Feminist Approach to A Charlie Brown Thanksgiving (1973) - The Worst Guy You’ve Ever Met vs. The Realest
A Race & Ethnicity Approach to Clash by Night (1952) - The Godfather 2 1/2: Simba’s Pride
A Comparative Approach to The Godfather Part II (1974) - Monster Mash V: The Monsters You Never Suspect
A Personal Reflection on The Blob (1958) - Monster Mash IV: Monsters We See in the Therapist’s Blob
A Comparative Approach to The Birds (1963) The Birds (1963)… - Monster Mash III: The Great War and Modern Monsters
A Marxist Approach to Gods and Monsters (1998) [Contains spoilers]… - Monster Mash II: Monsters in a Crystal Cave of Culture
A Contemporary History and Disciplinary Approach to Frankenstein (1931) - Monster Mash I: Monsters Wrapped in Unjust Laws and Bible Quotes
A Genre Approach to The Hunchback of Notre Dame (1996) - Methodology III: Return of the Jedi
A Methodological Refresh Hello, darlings, and welcome to our new… - Newman’s Own Combination Brothel Hut and Carousel
A Formalist Approach to The Sting (1973) The Sting (1973)… - This Bluesmobile Fights Fascists
An Apparatus Approach to The Blues Brothers (1980) The Blues… - “You Work on Wall Street?” “What, Like It’s Hard?”
A Feminist Approach to Working Girl (1988) Working Girl (1988)…
Archives
Here are a few posts migrated from their original publication on Substack. I will repost them here with their original publication dates as I reference them in new reviews.
- Communism Is, Was, and Will Always Be A Red Herring
A Contextual History Approach to Clue (1985) - Nielsen’s New Son Neeson Nails It
A Thought on the Franchise - Frank Drebin and a Lion Save the Planet from Robert Goulet
A (Kinda) Genre Approach to The Naked Gun 2 1/2… - Ferris Bueller Didn’t Kill OJ Simpson, but Frank Drebin Did Save the Queen
A Formalist Approach to The Naked Gun: From the Files of Police Squad! (1988) - From Hitchcock With Love
A Reception Approach to North by Northwest (1959) - The Great American Melting Pot Needs A Little Spice
A Dualist Approach to Mississippi Masala (1991) - The Long, Hot Sumthin, Sumthin
A Textual Approach to The Long, Hot Summer (1958) - Part III of Corn: Propaganda for Caring About People is Rad as Hell
An Apparatus Approach to Meet John Doe (1941) - Here’s Thinking With You, Kid
An Alternate Reading of Casablanca (1942) - I’m a God Damn Marvel of Modern Film Scholarship
A Contextual History Approach to One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Next (1975) - Nuance in New Orleans
An Apparatus Approach to A Streetcar Named Desire (1951) - Lions and Tigers and Hot Takes, Oh My!
A (Kinda) Genre Approach to The Wizard of Oz (1939) - Righteous Impatience for Dinner and Progress
An Apparatus Approach to Guess Who’s Coming to Dinner (1967) - This One Goes to 11
A Formalist Approach to This is Spinal Tap (1984) - The Visible Magic of Asking “Why?”
A Contemporary History Approach to Klaus (2019) - A Suit on a Bus, and Other Hilarious Depictions of Social Inequalities
An Apparatus Approach to Planes, Trains & Automobiles (1987)
Review Roulette recently moved to this space on its 2nd anniversary in September 2025. For backdated reviews that have not been transported over, please get in touch with Vaughn or see the originals on Substack.