Since the early days of cinema both horror and science fiction films have flourished, capturing the imagination and commanding impressive box office receipts along the way. But not all great populist SF horror have been widely seen, large scale franchises, or big event films with A-list stars. Great sci-fi horror is often found in small scale B-movie attire, art house… Read more »
Christopher Nolan has established himself as one of the most consistent film directors of his generation, building the bridge between art and commerce in a time when these two seem to drift away from each other. Whether his cerebral films that often play with time are always up your alley, there’s no denying that he’s able to craft inventive stories… Read more »
Science fiction can be entertaining or philosophical, lighthearted or political, dark or ethereal. Sometimes it can be all these things combined together. It can be used in pure genre movies or exploited as a medium for arthouse installations. When we think about sci-fi, “Metropolis” (1927), “2001: A Space Odyssey” (1968), “Solaris” (1972) and “Blade Runner” (1982) come to mind, as… Read more »
The name Tolstoy means many things to many people. Novelist, Aristocrat, Revolutionary, Heretic, and Saint are all titles given to the author of War and Peace – often considered the greatest novel of all time. And it seems only fitting that someone capable of creating so many timeless fictional characters should have lived a richly complex life during which he… Read more »
The horror genre is perhaps the most diverse and widely varied in all of film and the one with the richest history. From the genre’s early stages with German Expressionism to the suspense of Hitchcock to the slasher and possession craze of the 80s. Over the last few years, the genre has been experiencing a resurgence with box-office hits and… Read more »
Narratives have existed since prehistory. At the Caves of Chauvet in France, the Neanderthals tried to tell their daily adventures through iconographic reports in the form of drawings. With the advent of writing, the narratives became increasingly complex. Then, the troubadours and novels of cavalry appeared in the Middle Ages. Later, more fictional narratives gained strength: from the 15th century,… Read more »
Integral to any film due for release is a marketing campaign. Not only can this be a key aspect to the film’s overall success and revenue, but it is also an important part of making people aware of your film. If no one knows what your film is about or when it is released – how will they know to… Read more »
In this age of technical advancement we’re able to produce what can easily go down in time as the most visually incredible scenes in film history. The spectrum of feelings and emotions continue to grow as we as humans continue to live and find new aspects we’ve never known before. It’s a hard task to choose what the most beautiful… Read more »
New year, new movies. This year has started similarly to all the recent previous ones: the first award-winning films of the previous year keep expanding in theaters, and the studios start to drop the films that they either think are gonna bomb (“Serenity”) or just don’t find a right time to release it. Then VOD keeps giving us small indies… Read more »
A twist ending can make or break a film; get it wrong and you will leave the audience feeling cheated and angered at the twist. But if you get it right, then you could easily save an otherwise below average film and turn it into something worth remembering and rewatching. Creating a good twist is hard, because it has to… Read more »
In a literal sense, the notion of romance is a feeling of mystery, excitement, and remoteness, a welcome escape from the mundanity of daily life. If this definition seems acceptable, then a visit to a haunted house can be the most romantic experience in a person’s life; however, this is generally not regarded as the best example of romance. There… Read more »
Time has a magical quality to it. As the hours progress in our mortal life, we learn to re-appreciate things in a different light. Maturity is a key factor in this. Art and culture gain new significance from the newly gained perception of time. Any performance art such as theatre, dance, music, etc can be mastered better with more challenging… Read more »
Terry Gilliam made his start as the animator for Monty Python’s Flying Circus, and also collaborated on Python sketches as well as appearing on screen. His animation work was primarily based on cut-outs and collage, and that definitely gave him a great beginning and background. He was somewhat isolated from the group, busy doing his own thing, and that set… Read more »
In the broadest term, auteur means author; that in the context of a motion picture, the authority of the final material can be claimed by the director of the film. While an author generally works in isolation with pen and paper or computer in hand, the director of a motion picture has to deal with many different people in the… Read more »
The first three minutes of his film Carne included the real slitting of a horse’s neck, real images of child-birth and a young girl on a rocking horse which later becomes ingrained in a surreal fantasy of his characters desire for incestual sex with her. He also included his own masturbating whilst on cocaine in Irreversible and he happily criticised… Read more »
While there are some purists out there who want their favorite stories to always be translated to the screen completely faithfully, the more discerning cinephiles out there know that film is a different medium which often requires texts to be changed through adaptation. Discerning cineastes also know that filmmakers can drop the adaptational ball. Here are ten films that, for… Read more »
