Behind The Curtain

It’s halfway through the 1960s and Alfred Hitchcock is on the decline. His latest features of Marnie, a critical failure, and Torn Curtain, an ambivalent flop, have seen the grand filmmaker’s name reach...

“I am not a political activist. When I produced Spartacus in 1959, I was trying to make the best movie I could make, not a political statement.” – Kirk Douglas Dalton Trumbo balanced his typewriter on a...

Walt Disney Animation Studios, still flying high with 2013’s colossal success Frozen, has long been considered the premier studio for animated projects – since, in fact, its time as Disney Brothers Cartoon...

In 2004, Shane Carruth stunned the film industry with his visionary debut, Primer. Taking a meticulous and realist approach to the ever-popular sci-fi theme of time travel, his singular vision earned him the...

Cleopatra, 20th Century Fox’s lavish, budget-busting, ancient-historical-romantic epic, is widely considered to be one of the most notorious box-office flops in cinema history. Years, rather than months, in...

Winner of two Japanese Academy Awards and director of several critically acclaimed films, Sang-il Lee has taken on his biggest challenge to date by remaking the Clint Eastwood classic, Unforgiven. We caught...

American singer-songwriter and rock legend Bruce Springsteen has written numerous songs for use in films, while his motifs and archetypes have influenced others in a variety of guises. But his...

Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory is one of the most celebrated children's films of all time. Infectious songs, eccentricities beyond compare and a surprising darkness that lingers in the mind, Willy...

Zack Snyder’s 300, based on Frank Miller’s graphic novel of the same name, defied audience and studio expectations when it stormed the box office with Spartan-like ferocity back in 2007. Its mix of...

When it comes to making movies, there are few who can match the careers of writer-director duo Joel and Ethan Coen. Their ability to create new, exciting and enchanting films from across the spectrum of genre...

Alan Moore’s legendary Watchmen was the catalyst for a sea change in the way both comic books and superheroes were viewed by the wider world. Deconstructing the clean-cut superhero myths of classics like...

Since the inception of cinema, there have been precious few films which have achieved the level of notoriety enjoyed by The Exorcist. Based on a novel by William Blatty and widely regarded as one of the most...

MGM’s 1939 Technicolor musical masterpiece The Wizard of Oz is regarded as a standout event in a year filled with standout movies, like Gone with the Wind and Mr. Smith Goes to Washington, as well as a true...

“Music is very important in my movies. In some ways the most important stage...” - Quentin Tarantino, 2009  As musical bad-assery goes, there are few who can match up to Director and Screenwriter...

1939 was the biggest year for quality movie-making that Hollywood had ever seen, with classics such as Stagecoach, The Wizard of Oz, Mr. Smith Goes to Washington and Ninotchka all nominees for the Best Picture...