Some years ago I went to Arles for the annual photography festival and discovered that, on Saturday nights, the local bullfighting school put on a show in the Roman amphitheatre. I paid my ten euros and watched three young matadors in training kill their bulls while the locals treated this …
Everybody clearly had a wonderful time making this episode of Carême, in which they either very politely make vicious threats to each other, or create a colossal mess. Best of all, nudity! Sorry, this is France: nudité. One bottom belongs to a male extra who has evidently just participated in …
What happens throughout this episode is, in the very best sense of the word, adult. Carême’s understanding that people’s motivations and people’s desires do not necessarily reflect their best selves is unknown in American art. But the French are perhaps more capable of acknowledging the gap between their best and …
The sumptuous Carême hits two basic needs for a high-end television series. One is for sex, but the other is rarer in fictional television: food porn. This combination is an absolutely wonderful idea, because god knows our appetite for something good to eat doesn’t always get its due from a …
Marking its final adventure, the third season of Apple TV+’s acclaimed Jane premiered last week. I had the distinct pleasure of speaking with two of the key creative forces behind this environmentally conscious children’s series. The seasoned duo of J. J. Johnson and Matt Bishop (best known – at least …
After strike-induced delays, the second series of Andor arrives on 22 April 2025, almost two and a half years after the first series first appeared on Disney+. This time, it will deliver its twelve episodes over a might-tighter release window (twelve episodes over four weeks rather than ten). Revisiting Andor’s …
The only flaw in the magnificent The Return is that, by virtue of the casting, the audience is able to predict the plot before the characters can. This is however an extremely small complaint in the grand scheme of an unusually subtle and thoughtful war movie. For one thing, it’s …
I’ve mentioned this countless times throughout my years of film criticism: not every movie needs to be narratively and thematically profound, impacting audiences so deeply with philosophical messages that their lives are forever changed. Cinema is, among many things, entertainment. So, it’s no surprise when films like Freaky Tales emerge, …
Bong Joon-ho is one of the most fascinating filmmakers of the century. From The Host to Parasite, not forgetting Snowpiercer or Okja, the writer-director jumps from genre to genre, blending distinct tones with remarkable balance and efficiency. Joon-ho fits into that special category of filmmakers who simply cannot make a …
The post-Endgame era of the Marvel Cinematic Universe (MCU) has been inconsistent and marked by numerous production issues, so the fact that Captain America: Brave New World is yet another project affected by reshoots and multiple script revisions isn’t at all surprising. It only reinforces the general concern surrounding the …
The Gorge is a strong addition to the Apple TV+ movie catalog. Miles Teller and Anya Taylor-Joy make this the perfect Valentine’s Day date night movie. Apple TV+ is giving everyone an option this Valentine’s Day weekend by releasing a film starring Miles Teller and Anya Taylor-Joy in The Gorge. The streaming platform is known for its hit TV shows …
All eyes were on how James Gunn planned to start the DCU. When it was revealed the starting product would be Creature Commandos, some people scratched their heads. Is this animated series able to jump-start a new universe? It was a strange start, simply because (similarly to Gunn’s The Suicide …
Pierce Brosnan became an action icon when he portrayed the most iconic secret agent, James Bond. Throughout his four films with the franchise, he appeared in some of the most popular films of the recent era, including Goldeneye. Lately, Brosnan has engaged in action flicks as an experienced agent who …
J. R. R. Tolkien’s The Lord of the Rings saga struck such a colossal nerve when it was first published because it was a reaction to the loss of the first World War. The displacement of the muddy, modern conflict into a deliberately regressive story of magic and magical creatures …
After two monumental entries into the Star Wars trilogy, Return of the Jedi had a lot riding on it. Trying to stick the landing is always a high pressure job but with this final piece of the original trilogy, we are thankfully in luck. While it’s not as airtight of …
If anyone suspected that the success of George Lucas’s Star Wars was a fluke, then the 1980s Irvin Kershner-directed The Empire Strikes Back smothered these allegations. It maintains the imagination and splendour of the original while adding narrative twists and new character dimensions to the mix. But while it is, …
In 1977, blockbuster cinema changed forever with the release of George Lucas’s Star Wars. While Steven Spielberg’s Jaws spawned the term blockbuster, Star Wars came to define the genre with its humongous popularity, critical acclaim, and financial success, which was unlike anything cinemas had seen at that point. Nearly fifty …
2019’s Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker – the final entry in the Star Wars sequel trilogy – had severe production hurdles from the start. The film was originally going to be helmed by Jurassic World director Colin Treverrow, who had managed to pen a full script with Derek Connolly …
Despite the critical acclaim of Rian Johnson’s Star Wars: The Last Jedi, certain corners of the internet would have you believe that the film was “divisive.” While there were certainly some unhappy fans – they’ve been screaming from their parents’ basements since 2017 – the evidence of audience gathering surveys …
Star Wars media has returned to the cultural forefront since the release of Star Wars: The Force Awakens in 2015. A film trilogy and several television shows later, the franchise has become a norm within the entertainment media landscape. Unfortunately, such an extensive array of content has not had the …