Rocketman and the Spirit of Forgiveness
It can be difficult to fully forgive. Forgiving others can be trying, and self-forgiveness can sometimes feel downright impossible. Rocketman, the glitzy, musical biopic of Elton John’s life, is grounded in...
Five Video Games Hollywood Should Adapt Next
Video games are a rich vein of narrative potential that Hollywood is still struggling to mine. It’s often the case that the mediums just don’t translate – after all, spending a couple of hours merely...
How Avengers: Endgame Critiques Franchise Cinema
This article contains spoilers for Avengers: Endgame What do you mean critiques? It’s the epic crowning glory of the biggest franchise experiment in film history! Twenty-one films of character...
Why TV is the Best Place for Loki
The beauty of a cinematic universe is that it contains someone for everyone. But if the MCU had anyone close to being a universal fan favourite, Asgard’s most slippery adopted son was it. Loki's charms made...
What’s Next for Marvel’s Women After Black Widow’s Endgame?
Poor Black Widow. Introduced as a skin-tight catsuit, deemed a "monster" for her infertility, and finally sacrificed in favour of a grief-stricken revenge murderer who happens to be a dad. She doesn’t even...
The Amazing Spider-Man’s Failure was the Best Thing to Happen to Andrew Garfield
Andrew Garfield was too handsome to be a superhero. This has never been a problem for any actor in the history of Hollywood, but it ended up being one of several factors that doomed the short-lived Amazing...
Is Captain Marvel Here to Save Women in Film?
It’s a big ask, being brought back from the past to save half the universe from a Mad Titan. As if that wasn't enough, the woman behind Captain Marvel is flexing her own muscles to drive change for women...
How The LEGO Movie 2 Deconstructs Toxic Masculinity
Nobody expected The LEGO Movie to be anything more than a 90-minute commercial for the bricks it was based on. But, in a move that has quickly becoming their trademark, directors Phil Lord and Chris Miller...
Cutting the Oscars Was a Stupid Solution to a Serious Problem
You're already up to date, I'm sure. Mostly because, even if you weren't up to date, everything's gone back to normal anyway so it doesn't matter. Recap: After warning last year that the 91st Academy...
Cut! Why the Academy Awards Broadcast Needed Editing
Tinseltown and its suburbs, Film Twitter, are in uproar this week. The awarding of Best Cinematography, Best Makeup and Hairstyling, Best Film Editing and Best Live Action Short are all to be done during...
Breaking the Biopic Formula
This week sees the UK release of On the Basis of Sex, a biopic covering the education and early court cases of esteemed US Supreme Court Justice and living legend Ruth Bader Ginsberg. It joins a long line of...
Oscar Nominations 2019: The Full Rundown
10 years ago, Bradley Cooper may as well have been nobody. Then he starred in The Hangover. Then... uh... The Hangover 2. But six brief years since his "serious film" breakout Silver Linings Playbook, the...
The Hand That Holds the Pen: The (Un)Importance of Cinematic Historical Accuracy
Roughly a third of the way through Colette, currently in UK cinemas, Keira Knightley’s titular author muses that ‘the hand that holds the pen writes history.’ This line – featured prominently in the...
Why Period Films Are So Underrated
It is the beginning of Pride and Prejudice. The protagonist, Elizabeth Bennett (Keira Knightley), is reading a book as she walks through the English countryside. The house comes alive not because it’s been...
Life Finds a Way: The Jurassic World 3 Wish List
Jurassic World: Fallen Kingdom came roaring into cinemas last week, with our Phil calling the sequel/fifth outing 'an entertaining ride... with a fun B-movie premise, decently executed'. Generally good...