It’s always wonderful to see an actor rise to the opportunity and become a great movie star, and there’s a moment late in Gladiator II where the switch visibly flips for Paul Mescal. He (and Daisy Edgar-Jones, who I have written about elsewhere) came out of nowhere in 2020’s lockdown …
There are few subjects more emotive than motherhood, but a story about a new way to enable motherhood/parenthood should not have taken why that is as granted. On stage before the world premiere of Joy at the London Film Festival, director Ben Taylor and star James Norton both spoke about the …
What you have to realize about Queer is that it is an adaptation of a book by William S. Burroughs, so the queerness on display here is less about sexuality, but more a way of looking at the world. William Lee, largely Lee to his friends (an astonishing Daniel Craig), …
The most anticipated film of the Venice Biennale this year was the epic Horizon: An American Saga – Chapter 2, which landed with something of a whimper instead of the bang it truly deserves. Kevin Costner’s project, the first part of which had its world premiere in Cannes this past …
Roberto Minervini shared the best director prize in the Un Certain Regard strand of this year’s Cannes Film Festival for this mumblecore-style film about soldiers in the Wild West during the American Civil War. It’s the flipside to Kevin Costner’s Horizon: An American Saga (reviewed separately), which has broadly the …
There was one movie at this year’s Cannes Film Festival which was a passion project for the director that got all the attention: Megalopolis. But there was another movie, a passion project for the director, that also played Cannes, albeit not in competition: Horizon: An American Saga – Chapter 1. This …
Miguel Gomes won the Best Director prize at this year’s Cannes Film Festival for Grand Tour, which he co-wrote with Telmo Churro, Maureen Fazendeiro, and Mariana Ricardo, because it is an impossible film. It’s an epic pan-Asian journey best described as a mash-up of Wisconsin Death Trip and Apocalypse Now, …
There’s no doubt that Bridgerton is one of Netflix’s most successful shows and keeps on getting better with each season. The first two seasons captivated audiences with engaging storylines, richly developed characters, and sizzling physical chemistry. Both seasons garnered supremely positive audience and critical reactions and became two of the most-watched shows …
AppleTV+ seems to be carving out a nice niche for itself in prestige period miniseries that combine the holy trinity of the genre: star-studded casts, rich production design, and a topic of historical importance delivered with a glossy respect. Franklin, created by Kirk Ellis – perhaps previously best known for creating HBO’s magnificent miniseries John Adams – fits the …
The Three Musketeers: D’Artagnan is a 2023 action-adventure film, serving as the opening installment of a two-part series inspired by Alexandre Dumas’s 1844 novel, The Three Musketeers. This French adaptation directed by Martin Bourboulon and written by Matthieu Delaporte and Alexandre de La Patellière chronicles the journey of D’Artagnan (François Civil), a …
If there are two people you can trust with World War II, it’s Steven Spielberg and Tom Hanks; Saving Private Ryan, Band of Brothers, The Pacific, and even Greyhound are all great films and series depicting land and sea combat during WWII. This time though, Masters of the Air takes viewers on a thrilling and emotional journey through the skies. …
In 2023, we saw a movie based on the Holocaust taking the world by storm. Yes, we are talking about Jonathan Glazer’s haunting masterpiece, The Zone of Interest. It gave a very different perspective about an event that changed the world. Now, months later, we have another project revolving around the Holocaust. James Hawes’ One …
What would happen if you tried to make contact with the devil on live television? Well, Late Night with the Devil has a staggering answer to this question. Helmed by the directing duo of Cameron and Colin Cairnes, the movie chronicles the journey of a late-night talk show host Jack Delroy (David Dastmalchian), …
Specific true-life stories demand the big-screen cinematic treatment. In some cases, those true stories can go on to earn Academy awards (Braveheart, Schindlers List). In other cases, some films can dishonor those stories’ legacies. Adapting those stories can be some of the most challenging films to make. The story of the …
If you’ve ever had the chance to make a movie, chances are your mind will be tormented during the development, production, and post-production stages. While watching the rushes or beginning to edit your film, your mind may not enjoy what’s unfolding and will quasi-force you to come up with new …
Michael Winterbottom has one of the most prolific filmographies of any contemporary British filmmaker. From docudrama miniseries like This England to black comedies like Greed to Palme d’Or competing projects like 24 Hour Party People, Winterbottom has shown bold experimentation and a refusal to be bound to one singular approach to media. His latest, the period drama Shoshana, is a …
In November of 2023, Hulu released The Artful Dodger, a thrilling series set in 1850s Australia filled with redemption, love, and social standards. Jack Dawkins (Thomas Brodie-Sangster), a former navy surgeon, is trying to create a life of respectability in the colony. As you witness the drama, betrayal, romance, and redemption that …
In 2021, Claire Keegan’s novel on the Magdalene laundries Small Things Like These was released to acclaim, going on to be shortlisted for the famous Booker Prize. The turnaround between a book’s release and a film adaptation being made can vary, with some taking years to find their adaptive footing. In the case of Small …
When it comes to paintings and art, I’m not a huge connoisseur. I can walk through an art gallery and appreciate most pieces from a technical level, but as far as anything I would purchase and own for my own enjoyment, I’m pretty indifferent to most things. A new animated …
Biopics about popular celebrities can be difficult to create, largely in part because they will try to capture the scope of one’s whole life rather than the key elements that made them who they were. It’s not necessarily an incorrect approach to the genre, but for every fun or creative …