In Black Panther Chadwick Boseman walks with the weight of the world on his shoulders. Not only because he plays a king (uneasy lies the head that wears a crown), but also because he bears the brunt of the audience’s expectations. Ryan Coogler’s new film, the latest instalment in the Marvel franchise, is the first […]
Siren Song: ‘The Shape of Water’ (2017)
Raindrops dancing on a window. The still surface of a pool. A room drowned in water and a woman floating—Sleeping Beauty rocked by the sea. The Shape of Water, Guillermo del Toro’s new film, pools in the mind and seeps into the imagination. It’s a love story as fluid as the deep. The tale begins […]
The Measure of a Man: ‘Lincoln’ (2012)
Today is Election Day—the perfect day to revisit one of the finest films made about American politics this decade. In shooting Lincoln, Steven Spielberg said he “wanted to show that [Abraham Lincoln] was a man, not a monument.” He succeeded, admirably. Honest Abe is one of America’s most beloved presidents and the temptation to swathe […]
Things that go boom: ‘Avengers: Age of Ultron’ (2015)
In the closing credits of Avengers: Age of Ultron, Joss Whedon’s sequel to his 2012 blockbuster The Avengers, the camera swoops over majestic statues of the titular heroes, wielding hammers and shields and fists, and striking poses worthy of Greek gods. The statues are all part of a great marble edifice that evokes the scale […]
Oscars 2015: Now the parade’s gone by
The 87th Academy Awards were held last night, marking the official end of awards season. Now Oscars (Lego and otherwise) are safely ensconced in their new homes, the feverish live blogging and tweeting has ceased, and Hollywood has taken down all the bunting and stored it away until next year. Time to review the ceremony’s […]
Spider-Man is coming to the Marvel Cinematic Universe. Hooray?
It’s official: Spider-Man will be appearing in Marvel’s movie universe. The glad tidings, trumpeted yesterday across my Facebook and Twitter feeds, reminded me of this tweet: At last, Sony Pictures and Marvel have struck a deal that will allow everyone’s favourite web-slinger to come in from the cold. Spider-Man will appear in a Marvel film […]
Talking Pictures: Q&A with Leah Meyerhoff, founder of Film Fatales
This is the first of a series of interviews with filmmakers about the industry and their work. Leah Meyerhoff is a New York-based writer and director whose work has been screened at over 200 festivals, including Cannes, the Milan International Film Festival and the Rhode Island International Film Festival. She is also a Tribeca Film […]
Dazed and confused: ‘Trance’ (2013)
In the closing credits of Danny Boyle’s film, Trance, time winds back on itself to reveal the lifecycle of a painting in reverse: paint is stripped away, layer by layer, figures devolving into amorphous blotches of colour, until only a blank canvas remains. It’s a clever flourish for a film obsessed with perception and memory—and that’s […]
Not worth the price of ‘Admission’
For a film about decisions, Admission (2013) can’t seem to make up its mind. Is Paul Weitz’s comedy a farce about the Ivy League admissions process, a cringe comedy about one woman’s regimented life unravelling, or a meditation on missed opportunities and unconventional families? Like an over-eager student’s personal essay, the film tries to cram in too […]
Till the stars turn cold: ‘Only Lovers Left Alive’ (2013)
Stars swirling in the cosmos. A record turning on a turntable. The camera drifts in circles over a woman lying like Millais’ Ophelia amidst a sea of books, and a man in a similar pose, clutching a lute—all set to the screeching vocals and dissonant guitar of Wanda Jackson’s ‘Funnel of Love’. This is director […]