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.
Cheryl Dunye turned 54 in May, and in further celebration it’s time to reflect on her status as a pioneer and a revolutionary figure in progressive cinema for the most marginalised, writes Steph Brown.
IT’S ALWAYS FAIR WEATHER, the last of the Stanley Donen-Gene Kelly collaborations, has the temerity to admit something we all know to be true: namely, that life can be a bit shit.
DANIEL ISN’T REAL is the story of a college freshman whose imaginary childhood friend makes a comeback – it’s an accessible and attractive story, but the film’s true strength lies in the subjective experience it offers. Rosy Hunt reviews.
Thoughtful violence is created in both DRIVE and YOU WERE NEVER REALLY HERE through each director’s meticulous attention to detail through music, visual symbolism and tight editing. Nancy Epton on the approach of Lynne Ramsay and Nicolas Winding Refn.
The wuxia pian, the Chinese martial arts film, seems just as vital today as it did in the days of King Hu. Zhang Yimou’s SHADOW shares a good deal in common with HERO, if not quite assuming a role as its equal. Marc Nelson reviews.
Despite many technical highs in JOKER, the lack of nuance and a determination to be iconically shocking mean Todd Phillips’s film is a Batmobile with the engine of a clown car. Jim Ross reviews.
