Influenced by the visionary works of writers H.G. Wells and Jules Verne, science fiction films are both a prediction of future innovation as well as a speculation of current societal anxieties. They often feature fantastical storylines complete with alien invasion, mystical worlds, and dystopian civilizations. With tales of grand heroes and corrupt leaders, they incidentally help us understand human nature… Read more »
What does it mean when we say that a film is unfairly hated? Is it based on box office earnings – when a film falls below its expected box office earnings or doesn’t make its budget back? Perhaps it is critical reviews – when critics dislike the film and when audiences give it low scores? Or is it simply word… Read more »
Ah, love. The mingling of two, sometimes multiple, minds and bodies. A state of hypnotic affection and desire directed at the aware and unaware. It can cross paths with any person of any age at any time. With love, of course, comes the mystery and excitement of romance. The gestures and words, coupled with vying attempts at wooing and connecting… Read more »
It’s almost always more interesting to see a film divide audiences than it is to see a film either adored by most or hated by most, but what is even more interesting is when you go into a film that many have warned you not to see… and end up loving it. Here are ten great movies that many disliked,… Read more »
I think Roger Ebert is the best movie reviewer that we have ever had. There have been some other great ones but to me Roger stands out above the rest. I grew up watching Sneak Previews and would seek out the movies that Roger and his partner, Gene Siskel touted. Once Roger’s reviews became available online, I would always read… Read more »
It’s almost Valentine’s Day but that doesn’t mean that film lovers need to get gushy and overly sentimental when it comes to romantic cinema. One of the most moving and exciting subjects of love-driven movies orbit around the idea of amour fou –– mad love. When love gets dangerous or toxic, as romances turns to obsessive passion, a sense of… Read more »
“To me style is just the outside of content, and content the inside of style, like the outside and the inside of the human body‒ both go together, they can’t be separated,” Jean-Luc Godard has said. Indeed, style is the parameter that translates ideas into art. It really represents the both polymorphic and transparent canvas on which an artist of… Read more »
There is a feeling often conveyed in retrospection by the Hollywood A-listers of the Tinseltown, that Hollywood was just like a normal place of employment for them, nothing more than that. It is disheartening to hear that it was just a matter of great luck for them to enter the industry, never a passion and skill mastered from childhood or… Read more »
This year’s Oscar ceremony will be the last of the 2010s. The past decade has seen many innovations in storytelling, technical prowess and diversity. While the Oscars cannot claim to be at the forefront of these innovations, the Best Picture awards paints a fairly good picture as to what direction the world of cinema is going in. Whether it has… Read more »
The Oscars is in a crisis. While normal Americans (and devoted fans around the world) would easily watch the Superbowl for over four hours, The Academy believe that one way to drive ratings up is to make the entire process shorter. The news that the Best Cinematography Award would be announced during the adverts shocked pundits, with some people boldly… Read more »
The Oscar nominations for best acting came with lots of happy surprises and lots of egregious snubs. Yet what remains is a lively and diverse list, spanning from utter brilliance to derivative caricature. In honour of their announcement, we have decided to rank them all, both male and female, supporting and lead, from best to worst. This list will not… Read more »
Since D. W Griffith’s studies and the advent of the Hollywoodian rules and narrative – strongly appearing in The Birth of a Nation – the average viewer got used to the false illusion that classic cinema provides. After that, multiple cinematographic styles moved away from such basic principles. Movies that stray away from this tendency are usually deemed to be… Read more »
Does Life imitate Art, or does Art imitate Life? The debate rages on, and will not be crucial for this article. Here we will consider the important phenomenon of Art influencing Art, viewed through the lens of film history. An artist’s inspiration may be drawn from an array of sources, but when that source is another work of art, such… Read more »
There is a variant of Edmund Wilson’s prophetic quote from “The Triple Thinkers,” spread all over the internet, that states “No two persons ever read the same book.” The original quote is, “In a sense, one can never read the book that the author originally wrote, and one can never read the same book twice,” which has taken this somewhat… Read more »
This year’s Oscar ceremony will be the last of the 2010s, leading us to reflect on what a fascinating and diverse bunch of films and cinematic modes have appeared in the past decade. The Best Picture race is no longer dominated by prestige projects or heartbreaking true stories, but often won by diverse and challenging movies. Whether it’s the stunning… Read more »
Westerns once dominated the Hollywood era, the European scene, and many aspects of the film world. However, many got overshadowed by the large excesses or similar types of films. On this list, you won’t see films by John Ford, Howard Hawks or Sergio Leone, but rather films that resemble a similar bravura and aesthetic for the western that can be… Read more »
