A Beginner's Guide To...

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 of a...

“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...

Over the past few years there has been a renewed push for representation of black voices in Hollywood. With recent online campaigns such as #OscarsSoWhite, and more physical movements like Black Lives Matter,...

To mark the 5th annual Argentine Film Festival which starts in London this Thursday, we trace the origins of the present, exciting state of Argentine cinema. In the early years of the new millennium, Latin...

At my signal, unleash hell. The above line from Russell Crowe’s most iconic screen role - Maximus in Ridley Scott’s Gladiator (2000) - seems a fitting enough emblem for the determined, no-nonsense mark...

Famous directors - auteurs, if you want to get fancy - can often have their filmographies summed up in a few phrases. With Richard Linklater, those phrases are usually 'laid back', 'preoccupied with time'...

May 6th may not immediately mean a great deal to a lot of film fans, but for certain cinephiles it’s the day for making a pilgrimage to the nearest cinema screen to pay homage to a certain Terrence Malick...

It's easy to get into the films of Alfred Hitchcock. His mastery of film narrative, coupled with his thematic obsessions, make his films both accessible and sophisticated. His career is also one of the...

How does one begin to talk about Nic Cage? Well, let’s first start by considering the polar positions that so often clouds discussions regarding him. Such conversation tends to proceed as follows: speaker A...

Unless you’re already heavily involved in queer studies you may well balk at the sound of ‘queer cinema’. For the majority of people who only know ‘queer’ as a slur, it might be a surprise to find...

In many respects, Thomas Jeffrey Hanks is Mr Hollywood. He has starred in some of the most critically acclaimed films of the last 25 years, bagging a couple of Oscars along the way. Beyond his acting work...

Few actors working today are quite as paradoxical in their very existence as Johnny Depp. He is the man behind some of the most recognisable characters in modern popular culture, yet away from the cameras he...

What do you get if you mix dazzling good looks and irresistible charm with an array of outlandish gadgets and a pretentious signature cocktail? Only the most iconic movie character of all time. Yup, you...

It is fair to say that Robert De Niro is an acting institution; so great is he in some of his performances that one would not hesitate to place him among the best actors of his generation, and even of all...

Had she been alive today, the great Ingrid Bergman would be turning 100 this month. Bergman was a unique character in the Golden Age of Hollywood; in the '30s, Hollywood starlets were sassy, sexy, and...