Another Sundance movie sure to make an impact this year is Martha Marcy May Marlene, a taut thriller that tip toes into darkness with bone-chilling results. The film follows Martha, a broken young woman, during her first crucial weeks away from an abusive cult. Sean Durkin’s purposeful direction paints a near-perfect portrait of paranoia and fear while Elizabeth Olsen (Silent House) breaks away from her twin sisters’ joint shadow in a powerful performance as the damaged Martha. The film slips gracefully between past and present, forming a mosaic of questions on family, love, loyalty, and independence, and it is this masterful hold on time and space that creates the dream, or nightmare, that is Martha Marcy May Marlene.

The film opens inside the quiet farmhouse that houses the cult members. Martha creeps past sleeping bodies and out of her home with nothing but a backpack. As soon as she passes the front door threshold, she takes off into the woods, but her flight does not go unnoticed. From the moment Martha shutters the word “hi” into a payphone, asking her sister for help, it is obvious that she is anything but a free woman. Martha’s sister (Sarah Paulson, What Women Want, Deadwood) and wealthy husband (Hugh Dancy, Ella Enchanted, King Arthur) are unprepared to rehabilitate this mysteriously damaged girl. Her only explanation to her sister makes some sense: she had a boyfriend (Brady Corbet, Thirteen), he lied to her, they broke up. Her actions, however, expose her lack of understanding of social norms and interpersonal relationships. Her identity and sense of womanhood have been inexplicably altered.  

July 6, 2011

The Staff of Fanboy Comics would like to wish you and yours a very happy Take Your Webmaster to Lunch Day!  Every year on July 6th, be sure to show your webmaster how much you appreciate their infinite internet handiwork by treating them to lunch at the restaurant of their choice.

Webmasters (or webgoddesses, if you will) are the individuals that keep our websites in working order day in and day out.  From the easiest fixes (Is your computer turned on?) to the most quixotic of errors (Did you try turning it off and then on again?), these highly intelligent individuals enable us to complete our online endeavors with ease.  In order to ensure that your website continues to function as it was intended, the staff of Fanboy Comics suggests that you devote this day to lavishing your webmaster with a fabulous lunch and your immense gratitude.

We hope that webmasters everywhere will enjoy their special day to the fullest!  (Robert J. Peterson, FBC webmaster extraordinaire, we salute you!)