A Beginner's Guide To...

Douglas Sirk is a tough sell in a cynical age. Perhaps he would be in any. His plots are often shallow and seeped in wish-fulfilment; the performances are overwrought and slightly archaic; his sets, despite...

There is a common narrative surrounding Orson Welles that he was too ambitious for the studio system of his day; the final edits of his movies were rarely under his control after his first film, and his...

It doesn’t take a psychologist to realise that now might not be the best time for everyone's mental health. Global pandemics tend not to be the most calming of situations, and the recent state of lockdown...

As he closes out his fourth decade directing feature films with the UK release of Pain and Glory - his twenty-first feature - this week, it feels an opportune moment to reflect on the virtuoso career of...

Being a national treasure can be a double-edged sword. It carries a sense of predictability, of recycling character types. But for Emma Thompson, blasting into her 60s as a caustic chat show host in Late...

Back on screens this week with the release of The House with a Clock in Its Walls, iconic Australian actress Cate Blanchett is adding a children’s fantasy film to her impressive list of achievements. She is...

In recent interviews, filmmaker Andrew Haigh has expressed “doubts” about his creative decisions and a fear of being “typecast” as a gay filmmaker. This inner turmoil is part of what makes his work so...

This week sees the release of Bombshell: The Hedy Lamarr Story – a documentary about the Hollywood icon whose contributions to communication technology have been largely overlooked. Louis B. Mayer may have...

Time and again Sir Daniel Day-Lewis’ name has been sounded in response to the debate as to who is the greatest living actor. Certainly, it is the case that his name is synonymous with the highest standard...

The character actor is often considered a vestige solely for male performers – Paul Giamatti, Gary Oldman, Steve Buscemi, J.K. Simmons; the list goes on. Often the bridesmaid, rarely the bride, these side...

In the late 1970s, a young aspiring actor named Kenneth Branagh was about to star in a production of Chekhov's Three Sisters at the Royal Academy of Arts. Unsure of himself and desperate for guidance, he...

It is hard to name a more quintessentially British actor than Colin Firth. Playing almost exclusively (extremely) English characters and featuring heavily in historical pieces, the actor epitomises the class...

Few directors are both as respected as auteurs and revered in the blockbuster sphere as Christopher Nolan. The British-American director, writer, and producer burst onto the scene in 1998, when he was merely...

The newly released The Great Wall is the latest example of the Chinese film industry attempting to create the kind of big-budget spectacle that used to be the sole preserve of Hollywood; yet another sign...

“By any means necessary” – the mantra that often opens Spike Lee’s films – would appear to reflect the director's core beliefs: the absolute necessity of equality for African Americans, by any means...