Mark Wesley

Hi there!

My name is Mark and I am an entertainment writer with a focus on film and music. Here is a list of my articles, curated for your reading pleasure!
NPR •

The Hyundai Mercury Prize 2019 Review - A Brief Guide to The 1975

By all accounts, The 1975 is the embodiment of teenage angst, youthful exuberance, and millennial anxiety all rolled into one. With their unique visual aesthetic, it's hard to ignore a band of this magnitude. Led by frontman Matty Healy, they have been releasing music since the early 2010s and have been consistently growing their fanbase. The group hit their apex recently with their newest album A Brief Inquiry into Online Relationships winning at the 2019 BRIT awards and hitting number one acro
The Young Folks •

All Day and a Night Review: A Grim, but Familiar Tale of Cyclical Violence

The story of Black Panther writer Joe Robert Cole’s All Day and a Night is an all too familiar one. It follows the life of Jahkor (Ashton Sanders of Moonlight and Native Son fame) and the cyclical nature of violence that seemingly befalls many inner-city kids and those with underprivileged lives. Cole explores this cycle by diving into the expectations of the black male identity through peers, neighbors, and parental figures. The film does not deliver anything new, but still conveys its message
The Young Folks •

Album Review: Brian and Roger Eno deliver a reflective and meditative experience on “Mixing Colours.”

Brian and Roger Eno aim to take things slow with their new collaboration Mixing Colours. Roger, a centerpiece in the ambient genre in his own right, has been working in the music industry since the early 1980s. While not procuring as much attention as his older sibling, Roger’s work is just as engrossing. The two have worked together occasionally in the past, namely 1983’s Apollo: Atmospheres and Soundtracks and the third entry in the acclaimed Music for Films series. Both artists have also wor
The Young Folks •

All the Bright Places Review: Elle Fanning impresses in new Netflix adaptation

After the incredibly bewitching Hearts Beat Loud, Brett Haley returns with a story that is at turns tender, but also very aware of its subject matter. Amidst the pain of our past, we can find solace in things. We imbue emotions to different people and various locations we’ve gone to. That is the central theme behind All the Bright Places. This is a sad movie about people in pain. Haley does not take long to cement the tone of the film, as it begins with Violet Markey (Elle Fanning) looking mour
The Young Folks •

Album Review: King Krule clashes with despair and optimism “Man Alive!”

Many things have happened to Archy Marshall since the release of 2017’s The OOZ. His relationship with Charlotte Patmore began, alongside his eventual departure from London. The biggest change, however, was the birth of his newborn child. All of which happened before he even turned 30. Archy’s return to King Krule is not surprising, as his story has a whole new chapter for him to dive into. Man Alive! captures the seemingly inescapable gloom that sees to permeate many of King Krule’s records. P
The Young Folks •

Album Review: Algiers – “There Is No Year”

Atlanta post-punk band Algiers has never been a group for those faint of heart. Their 2017 album, The Underside of Power, was a brutal, unrelenting snapshot of the world’s political climate. Last August, the quartet released “Can The Sub_Bass Speak?”, a free-jazz opus that displays frontman Franklin James Fisher reciting racial epithets that have been leveled at him. Notably, he quotes lines written about The Underside of Power from Pitchfork. At the core, it’s a song about who gets to tell blac
The Young Folks •

Album Review: JPEGMAFIA – All My Heroes Are Cornballs

JPEGMAFIA is a rapper that the internet loves to hate. His last album, Veteran, propelled him to one of underground rap’s most welcome stars. Anger flowed all throughout Veteran. With track titles like “I Cannot Fucking Wait Until Morrissey Dies”, it could be easily surmised that JPEGMAFIA was a rapper that was ready for confrontation. It’s a project that, at one look, may seem gimmicky. Yet, Peggy’s refreshing in-your-face lyricism and layered production proved that he is worth taking a look a
The Young Folks •

Album Review: Florist – Emily Alone

Emily Alone is a poetic odyssey that dives into themes of loneliness, time, and the emptiness of not knowing one’s place in the world. The album, as the title implies, was recorded in solitude by songwriter Emily Sprague in her home in Los Angeles; her bandmates were on the other side of the country. This album is the result of this period of repose. It’s a sensitive album that hopes to try finding answers in the midst of great uncertainty. Introspection is at the core of Emily Alone. This coll
The Young Folks •

Album Review: Logic – “Confessions of a Dangerous Mind”

For may some it may be hard to remember, but there was a point in time where Logic was once a rapper people generally held in high regard. His early mixtapes are still heralded as being some of the best of their respective years and he showed an incredible amount of versatility for such a young talent. Logic was a student of the genre and he often paid respect to those who came before him. Under Pressure, his debut album released in 2014, showed an immense amount of potential for an emcee enter
The Young Folks •

The ‘Midsommar’ Trailer is A Gorgeous and Radiant Descent into Madness

A24’s summer lineup is looking to be stacked beyond belief. Ari Aster’s follow-up to Hereditary, Midsommar, is easily one of the most anticipated horror films of the year and it has just received its first official trailer. Aster described the film as “Scandinavian folk horror” and an “apocalyptic breakup movie”. Our first look at the film looks to ultimately prove those statements to be extremely accurate. Midsommar stars Florence Pugh and Jack Reynor as the couple who begrudgingly attend a su
The Young Folks •

Album Review: Frankie Cosmos – Haunted Items

If any person would be described as having a “wallflower” mentality, it would be Greta Kline. She’s been releasing music with her project Frankie Cosmos for just under five years, but her solo material spans back to early 2009. Some of Kline’s best material was released during her time with the band and she has become one of indie music’s most excellent additions in recent memory. In 2014, Frankie Cosmos released their debut Zentropy, when Greta Kline was only 19. The album was hailed for being
The Young Folks •

Joaquin Phoenix Impresses in Joker’s First Teaser Trailer

The world had its first look at Todd Phillips’ new Joker film less than a year ago and fans were immediately bewildered, terrified and intrigued by it. There wasn’t much to nibble on back then, but that all changed today as the first official teaser trailer for Joker was released to the masses. Film co-star Marc Maron described the film as “the character study of a mentally ill person” and by all accounts, this looks to be very accurate. Joker stars Joaquin Phoenix playing struggling comedian A
The Young Folks •

The Last Black Man in San Francisco Trailer: Joe Talbot Tackles Friendship In The Midst of Gentrification

At this point, A24 is just stacking the deck in their favor this year. Joe Talbot’s sweeping tale about friendship and gentrification, The Last Black Man in San Francisco, was one of many films to make waves at this year’s Sundance Film Festival. It was the recipient of the much coveted Special Jury Award, and Talbot himself won Best Director. The film received its first official trailer today and appears to tackle some very hefty societal conundrums like gentrification and culture erasure. Tal
The Young Folks •

The Souvenir Trailer: Joanna Hogg’s Latest Film Details a Perilous Relationship

It’s shaping up to be another excellent year for A24. British writer-director Joanna Hogg’s latest film The Souvenir made waves at this year’s Sundance Film Festival and now the first official trailer has finally been released. The Souvenir stars Tom Burke and features both Tilda Swinton and the debut performance from Honor Swinton Byrne, her daughter. The film deals with a familiar subject of a turbulent romance in a similar vein to Paul Thomas Anderson’s recent film, Phantom Thread. In the tra
The Young Folks •

Album Review: Girlpool – “What Chaos is Imaginary”

It’s no secret that unity is important to Girlpool. The band has an irrefutable ability to work in unison with each other, which results in something truly amazing. Their first album, Before the World Was Big, was heralded as being an excellent body of work, in most part due to that specific reason. Powerplant, the band’s 2017 release, received even more praise for the duo expressing their vulnerability inward and exploring new sounds. On What Chaos is Imaginary, the L.A. based group is trying t
The Young Folks •

Album Review: Toro y Moi – Outer Peace

Chaz Bear (fka Bundick) has never been one to create the same type of album twice. He’s always been able to shift sounds with relative ease. One thing that has always been an asset in the Toro y Moi toolset is the production. Chaz has been growing increasingly more competent as a producer, almost to the detriment of his songwriting. On his latest album, Outer Peace, there is a synergy of great instrumentation and lyrical content that has been missing since 2011’s, masterful Underneath the Pine.
The Young Folks •

2019 Academy Awards Nominations Announced

Oscar season is quickly coming to a head, as the nominees for the 91st Academy Awards were announced on Tuesday morning. As usual, there many snubs to be had. Some of the more notable performances exclusions were Toni Collette, Ethan Hawke and Thom Yorke from their respective categories. Still, there was a lot to be excited about. Yorgos Lanthimos’ The Favourite and Alfonso Cuaron’s Roma both walked away leading with 10 awards. This year’s award shows has a lot of firsts, however: The cultural
The Young Folks •

Album Review: Sun Kil Moon – “This is My Dinner”

The third leg of Mark Kozelek’s career has been an interesting one, to say the least. The former Red House Painters frontman has gone from being heralded with 2014’s masterful album Benji to lambasted by the music press due to a series of questionable statements and conflicts, one of those being a short-lived, albeit silly dispute with The War on Drugs. Despite it all, Kozelek’s recent output has been nothing if not prolific. He has released numerous albums in the past year alone including sever
The Young Folks •

Album Review: Robyn – Honey

The pop landscape has changed dramatically since Swedish pop-star Robyn put out her album, Body Talk, in 2010. Styles have come and gone, careers have been born, and the sound has shifted numerous times. However, Robyn was one of pop music’s most forward thinking and creative artists. Seemingly, she had fallen off the face of the earth. What was unbeknownst to us, is that Robyn was going through issues of her own. These issues would be the lyrical centerfold of her new album Honey, which comes a
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