Analysis

History is Hollywood's best friend of late. It represents a reliable, endless supply of stories that can add innate credibility to marketing materials, and can be transformed into soaring, emotional...

A scene-stealer that plays the title role in a film? How can that be? Well, Michael Keaton may have played the "starring role" in Beetlejuice (credited as "Betelgeuse"), but did you know he has just a...

Biopics, historical dramas, films about Hollywood, war films. The key phrase continually thrown around by the masses that connects these genres is the demeaning qualifier “Oscar bait” – should the film...

“He didn’t give in." So whispers Anna (Mélanie Laurent) to the still-grieving Oliver (Ewan McGregor), as she finishes reading the disarmingly open dating ad of Oliver’s late father, Hal. It’s...

Here at ORWAV, we just can't stop talking about La La Land. And with good reason - Damien Chazelle's modern take on old-school Hollywood has been nominated for an impressive 14 Academy Awards, and enchanted...

T2 Trainspotting is a gritty drama dealing with the harshness of middle-age in a left-behind society. Its characters must deal with past sins, including betrayal, aggravated assault, self-loathing and drug...

Emma Stone and Ryan Gosling have been dominating the cinema - and critics' prize lists - in recent weeks with their little-known musical La La Land, which has just equalled the all-time record for Academy...

Welcome to By the Book, where we compare books with their cinematic adaptations. Are they faithful and delightful partners in storytelling, or are the authors turning in their graves through these unholy...

After two disappointing years of #OscarsSoWhite the Academy have gone some way to improving the diversity of their nominations, with nods for the likes of Denzel Washington, Bradford Young and Barry...

Chile is not all lovely wine, productive copper mines, and functional yet attractive attacking football - in recent years its diverse, powerful and cultured arthouse cinema industry has enjoyed a strong and...

This summer the film world was temporarily rocked by, of all things, a new Ghostbusters film. For many people it was a long overdue win for better representation in film, and a chance to see that rarest of...

This article contains spoilers for Manchester by the Sea. You should watch it first, for these reasons. Looking at its poster you could be forgiven for thinking Michelle Williams is the co-star of...

Garlanded with seven Golden Globes and 11 BAFTA nominations, generating some serious Oscar buzz and collecting rave reviews, La La Land is the hottest ticket in town. A joyful Hollywood-set picture and a...

Barack Obama is not a fan of Black Orpheus. In his memoir Dreams of My Father, the outgoing President recalls that it was his mother’s favourite film, but when she took him to see it, he "suddenly realised...

2016 was a great year of film. Honest to God, our Top 20 was the strongest it's ever been. And we're not too bad at predicting the frontrunners either. Captain America: Civil War, Everybody Wants Some!!, The...