Film and culture. Not content.
1283 posts
In Green Border, director Agnieszka Holland turns a devastating lens on the European refugee crisis, crafting a grim and necessary experience that challenges not only our empathy but our understanding…
“Based on a True(ish) story.” Caroline Lindy’s Your Monster is a sweet trilled high note curdling into a scream of feminine rage. As anyone who has read or seen a fairytale know, appearances can be d…
Aotearoa-New Zealand is on fire recently with brilliant genre films and debut feature director Sasha Rainbow’s body horror satire Grafted is no exception. Skimping neither on gore, giggles, and righte…
With the documentary Made in England: The Films of Powell and Pressburger, David Hinton is the ostensible director of Martin Scorsese’s intimate and authoritative survey of cinematic titans who for we…
In the first part of this series, I highlighted the parallel histories of Shakespeare on screen and the Academy Awards, two institutions that emerged early twentieth century to legitimize the medium.…
Ridley Scott’s 2000 Roman Empire swords and sandals epic Gladiator netted five Academy Awards including best picture and best actor for the then mostly untested Russell Crowe. For years Scott has been…
In a dazzling collision of fantasy and reality, Anora unfolds the whirlwind romance between an erotic dancer and the son of a Russian oligarch, crafting a hilariously subversive adventure that is as p…
Karim Aïnouz’s adaptation of Elizabeth Freemantle’s novel about Katherine Parr The Queen’s Gambit begins with an unattributed quote: “History tells us a few things. Largely about men and war. For the…
Natalie Bailey’s black comedy Audrey knows the audience will hate almost every character in the film and yet relies on them getting behind their hideous behaviour and all its pettiness for the guilty…
Sony's attempts to create their own superhero cinematic universe continue to be a disappointment: essentially a universe defined by Spider-Man but completely lacking Spider-Man—it’s a lose lose si…
Blitz, Steve McQueen’s story of World War II London is a functional drama illustrating the different ‘Londons’ suffering under the terrifying blitzkrieg bombing by the Luftwaffe. Blitz is not the leve…
Small Things Like These directed by Tim Mielants is the second Claire Keegan adaptation from novella to screen. The Irish author’s moving social realist tales lend themselves to subtle and intimate in…