Reports of cinema’s death are greatly exaggerated, but the attack on the ‘big screen experience’ is coming from inside the building. As the focus on films continues to dwindle, and more and more desperate attempts are made to augment a diminished core experience, cinemagoing increasingly resembles an embodiment of a famous Groucho Marx quote: “I intend to live forever, or die trying.”
Associate Editor Simon Bowie reflects on the 2023 edition of Glasgow Short Film Festival, and its themes of machine learning, ‘weak’ artificial intelligence, and taking control of your own life or the tools you use.
There is a central idea between the dramatic unfoldings of BLUE JEAN: internalised homophobia triggers a fight or flight response. Walter Bradford Cannon’s famous ‘fight or flight’ theory, otherwise known as Acute Stress Response, is referenced early in Georgia Oakley’s outstanding feature debut. In BLUE JEAN, the stress Oakley’s Geordie protagonist Jean responds to is that of Margaret Thatcher’s homophobic amendment to British Law: Section 28.
Following just over a decade since its initial release, DRIVE’s cult status continues thanks to its laconic dialogue, striking visuals and pulsing electronic soundtrack. Perhaps the key ingredient to its success, however, lies in its appeal as a Western.
Though the big tent film festivals are the ones that hoover up the most attention, discussion, and coverage, it’s the specialist festivals that harbour the best surprises. Marc Nelson on Open City Docs 2021.
Matt Farr looks at why mumblecore is the ideal genre for Netflix, and how the streaming giant’s understanding of what best suits their platform is evolving.
Ewan Shand mulls over why so many people flocked to CONTAGION at the outset of the COVID-19 pandemic, potential reasons for these anti-escapist viewing urges, and the simple respite that movies can offer us.
Shirley Jackson’s fiction permits us to try a taste of madness. Her stories, published from the late 40s until her death in 1965, are fixated on the Gothic and the macabre. Her writing is frequently concerned with not only what is taboo or strange, but also the prying eyes of curious bystanders who can never … Continue reading Shirley and the Taste of Madness
When directors need to amplify an emotional moment, On the Nature of Daylight is fast becoming their go-to track. Further, its success has utterly transformed the fortunes of its creator. Nancy Epton discusses Max Richter’s piece.
As PARASITE returns to cinemas in black and white, Simon Bowie looks at the growing trend and some of the motivations for presenting different entertainment forms without the full colour spectrum.
