Can Horror Franchises Keep the Scares Fresh? Katy Moon July 9, 2019 Analysis, Features, Opinion Since the early days of horror cinema, franchising has had the tendency to dull the sharper edges of our favourite horror icons. Twenty-five years after they emerged from the shadows, Universal’s stable of...
Has Spider-Man: Far From Home Changed the Rules for the MCU’s Credit Stingers? Alex Goldstein July 8, 2019 Analysis, Features, One Off New phase, new rules. Spider-Man: Far From Home has been marketed very heavily as the final piece of the Avengers: Endgame puzzle, but, along with Captain Marvel, it marks the beginning of a new era. He might...
Patrick Wilson: The Everyman Scream King Katy Moon July 8, 2019 Analysis, Features, Spotlight There is a moment in The Conjuring 2 in which Patrick Wilson's ghostbuster Ed Warren, hoping to cheer a group of frightened kids, serenades them all with croony Elvis song 'Can’t Help Falling in Love'. With...
Top 10 Movie Moments of 2019… So Far Tom Bond July 5, 2019 Analysis, Features, Top 10 Every summer we like to glance back at the first half of the year and ask that all-important question: which specific moments in film did you love, regardless of the quality of the film itself? Because it's...
Virginia Woolf on Film Josefine Algieri July 4, 2019 Analysis, By The Book, Features In 1926, when film was still a young and emerging artform, Virginia Woolf wrote the essay 'On Cinema', considering the medium with all its possibilities and limitations. In it, she is particularly outspoken on...
The MCU Doesn’t Have the Guts to Make Heroes Unlikeable – But Spider-Man 3 Did Joni Blyth July 1, 2019 Analysis, Features, Opinion We’re back in the MCU after the Endgame – and where better to start over than with Spidey? Everyone has their favourite Spider-Man, but Tom Holland’s iteration will certainly go down as one of the best...
Feminism vs Capitalism in Support the Girls Tom Bond June 27, 2019 Analysis, Close-Up, Features Andrew Bujalski’s Support the Girls is undoubtedly a feminist film, despite being set in a Hooters-esque sports bar where the staff flirt for tips in low-cut tops. Its greatness lies in how it pits its cast...
Yesterday and Cinema’s Best Jukebox Musicals Carmen Paddock June 26, 2019 Analysis, Features, Top 10 Yesterday, which opens in the UK this week, imagines a world where Sergeant Pepper, Eleanor Rigby, and a yellow submarine live only in the mind of Jack Malik – a street musician whose life changes when he is...
Five Genres That Superhero Movies Should be Embracing Phil W. Bayles June 19, 2019 Analysis, Features, Opinion James Gunn has become an essential player in the ongoing Marvel Cinematic Universe – so much so that even an idiotic campaign by right-wing internet trolls couldn’t keep him away. But as we eagerly await...
A Beginner’s Guide to… Emma Thompson Alex Goldstein June 5, 2019 A Beginner's Guide To..., Analysis, Features 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...
X Rated: Every X-Men Film Ranked James Andrews June 4, 2019 Analysis, Features, Top 10 As the "will they, won't they?" saga of the X-Men's migration into the Marvel Cinematic Universe continues following Disney's takeover of Fox, the mutant franchise returns for what could be the final go-around...
From Short to Feature: Six Notable Expansions Carmen Paddock May 30, 2019 Analysis, Features, Top 10 After beginning life as a 13-minute short film, Thunder Road arrives in UK cinemas this week. The original depiction of a police officer awkwardly yet poignantly mourning his recently deceased mother through...
Rocketman and the Spirit of Forgiveness Stephanie Watts May 29, 2019 Analysis, Features, Opinion 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...
John Wick vs. The World: The Action Film’s Evolution Chris Edwards May 17, 2019 Analysis, Close-Up, Features Action movies aren't what they used to be. With the incredible advancement of CGI allowing for ever-increasing financial success, modern action has become all about sequels, remakes and adaptations. This...
Keanu Reeves: the Man, the Myth, the Legend Katy Moon May 14, 2019 Analysis, Features, Spotlight Sometime in the 1990s – thanks to some goofball early roles, a few wobbly performances and the occasional taciturn interview – critics and journalists seemed to latch onto the idea that Keanu Reeves was...