One movie is an experience. Four is a consensus. The female filmmakers of America have agreed: modern motherhood is hell on earth. The mommies at the centre of these recent movies are all wealthy, with every societal advantage their husband’s money can buy. (They’re all thin and white too, if we …
Using the court system as a way to discuss societal problems has been a mainstay of television around the world for decades. Yet since Anatomy of a Fall gave the world an clever, multilingual mystery, the court system has suddenly become just as popular a technique for movies to address …
I’ll admit I walked into this one with my guard up. Every trailer drop for Spider-Man: Brand New Day — and I avoided them like the plague, though there’s only so much a person can dodge — kept adding another name to an already overstuffed-looking roster: Bruce Banner / Hulk …
Some writers might use subtext. Others have the main female character ask the male lead, “So you’re on a f*cked-up American pilgrimage?” It never hurts to spell things out, but Via Negativa ricochets quite a bit between overly explaining things and letting Young Mazino’s handsome face do all the work. …
Jordan Peele’s third feature film, Nope, was kept a mystery in its marketing and has been slotted into various categories since its release: supernatural horror, science fiction, modern Western, creature feature, and sardonic look at a society obsessed with getting the perfect money-making shot. Nope is all of these in …
This charming little movie doesn’t reinvent the wheel, but it does do three things. It makes the case that Haley Bennett is one of our most overlooked movie stars, it introduces Austrian actor Elyas M’Barek to English-speaking audiences, and it tells a serious story of unsupported female ambition with a …
Film festivals can be a little too intellectual sometimes. There is of course space in movies for people giving each other lectures on why capitalism is bad (something that featured in an awful lot of films at Cannes this year). But those movies are rarely a good time, and most …
When a genre is ‘alive and kicking’ nobody bothers to look into its roots. But judging by the sheer volume and declining quality of spoof comedies, it’s safe to say this kind of movie is mostly living of its past. You ask any cinephile, and they’ll quickly point to Airplane!, …
Romantic movies told from the male point of view tend to focus on the guy, especially a guy able to recognise something in a woman – beauty, brains, talent – that she didn’t know she had. Through the guy’s actions the woman is able to get what she deserves, which …
Travel remains one of life’s luxuries where, for a few hours whilst in the air, passengers are encouraged to switch off from outside distractions and disconnect those online connections. Therefore to be a designated ‘travel companion’ to receive free flights, on standby, is a perk that few are unlikely to …
The prolific filmmaker and theorist Mark Cousins returns to the festival circuit with his 16-part project, The Story of Documentary Film. Recently, he presented the segment 1970s at the Cannes Film Festival. The film is a two-halves project that narrates the production of non-fiction in the decade. Firstly, in the …
For anyone who is, knows, or aspires to be a dad, Finnegan’s Foursome is the perfect movie. The stakes are low, the banter is high, and there’s so much golf that anyone who’s ever fallen asleep in front of Sunday afternoon television will feel right at home. Edward Burns has …
To say there’s not much new in this story of female super-soldiers is kind of reductive, because major action blockbusters centered around a woman are still unusual in Hindi cinema. Fortunately Alia Bhatt is a major Hindi superstar, who has occasionally also worked in English, and who absolutely has the …
When someone writes, directs and edits their own film, this can be a promising sign of an expert knowing exactly how to deliver the idea they have in their head. It can also be an exercise in the worst kind of self-indulgence, the kind that brooks no feedback and maintains …
Wasteman follows the great British cinema tradition of bringing no-holds barred, gritty stories to life. Cal McMau’s feature debut casts a sceptical eye on the British prison system and questions how effective it realistically is. The drama follows Taylor (David Jonsson) who is mere weeks away from being released on …
Director Jamie Adams has a no-budget niche. He finds a location and maybe six actors, prepares a concept and character arcs, starts the camera rolling, and allows the cast to improvise their way to the aimed-for ending. Within a week. His shooting schedule for his films lasts approximately a week. …
San Diego Comic-Con is well underway, and there’s been a ton of exciting news. But perhaps nothing has been more anticipated than Marvel’s return to the vaunted Hall H with their last appearance being in 2024. Just look at the line for people trying to get in to see the …
Dustin Hoffman might not have too many more films in him, but he is winding up his career on a personal high. In Tuner, also released this year, he stole the entire film as the kind and charismatic piano tuner everybody can’t help loving. In The Revisionist he pulls off …
The title is wrong, but what Deepfake gets right is the sense that, for too many people, life is a performance for the approval of strangers instead of something to please yourself. This movie was clearly made for no money, filmed almost entirely in a single Manhattan apartment, and with …
Paweł Pawlikowski shared the Best Director prize at this year’s Cannes with the directors of The Black Ball, who spoke first. When he finally gained the podium for his own speech, Mr. Pawlikowski laughed and (accurately) said the staging of this moment was terrible. No such mistakes were made for …