Analysis

Remembered mainly as the cinematic backdrop for Natalie Portman’s thespian crowning achievement, Black Swan is Aronofsky’s successful attempt at bestowing an Icarus twist on a classic tale, as he depicts...

In the run-up to the release of the latest Stephen King adaptation, It, Scott Wampler of Birth Movies Death would regularly upload a publicity still of Pennywise the Dancing Clown poking his head out of a...

Screenwriter and, as of recently, director Taylor Sheridan has carved out a niche for himself making tense crime sagas in various American landscapes, characterised by unflinching depictions of violence, razor...

Though audiences are most familiar with Pennywise the Dancing Clown, the eponymous monster in Stephen King's It actually takes on many forms, changing its shape to reflect the deepest fears of its victims....

Do you miss the good old days? Back when this country was great, I could pass flatus in public and no one would bat an eye. In fact, I even used to soil myself and it would be cleaned up for me. What’s...

We’ve all been there – joking that if we don’t get that job, or pass that exam, we’ll have to become strippers to make ends meet. In The Full Monty, for six men of Sheffield out of a job after the...

At first glance, the Coen brothers’ Inside Llewyn Davis is not explicitly a feel-good film. The titular antihero – a down-on-his-luck folk musician in 1960s New York – is bitter about his circumstances...

Steven Soderbergh has always been a filmmaker who belies easy stereotyping. His prolificness and his chameleon-like ability to switch between genres, between the arthouse and the mainstream, have always made...

Cinema plus Psychoanalysis equals the Science of Ghosts – Jacques Derrida Cinema has always seemed the ideal bedfellow for explorations of grief and loss. It’s ingrained in the very origins of the...

At some point in the early 2000s, Robert De Niro’s career started to take a downhill turn. Sure, there’s been the odd high point here and there – he’s generally considered to be one of the best parts...

This week’s release of Maudie, the tale of a Nova Scotia artist who suffers from crippling arthritis, looks set to cement Sally Hawkins as the master of powerful fragility. Wonderfully charming and...

Sundance hit The Big Sick lands in UK cinemas on Friday. This relationship comedy is unconventional for at least two reasons. First, its tale of illness renders the leading lady (Zoe Kazan) comatose for a...

One look and you can tell how well a society functions. It’s all about order. Are the streets clear of rubbish? Are the walls fresh with paint? People only tend to care how something looks once they’re...

Sir Mark Rylance is currently having a bit of a moment on the international stage – and one which looks set to continue this week with the release of Christopher Nolan’s war epic Dunkirk. Until recently...

Only 10 remain of the 50 greatest blockbusters ever made. Tensions are high, you can feel the hum of excitement in the air as faint gasps cut the silence. Elsewhere, chairs yawn with the sound of bottoms...