Around one in five American adults manage to squeeze in watching a movie on a daily basis. It’s a great way to escape the daily grind and unwind with loved ones. But, what can you actually remember about last night’s … Read More
How does one successfully navigate obstacles such as extreme weather, a tight deadline and a spontaneous shot list in a foreign country as a solo cinematographer on a 360 project? In December 2019 I was in a group of Griffith … Read More
Over the past three years, people from all walks of life have learned a great deal about different branches of science. The COVID-19 pandemic introduced many of us to information about virology and vaccine production. Environmental disasters in every part … Read More
In an essay on Kenneth Branagh, screenwriter Scott Frank recalls meeting the future star and director of his screenplay Dead Again (1991) and wondering “why the guy would want to direct a loopy, film noir thriller like mine?” He goes … Read More
The bitter conflict between actors, writers and other creative professionals and the major movie and TV studios represents a flashpoint in the radical transformation roiling the entertainment industry. The ongoing strikes by the Writers Guild of America and the Screen … Read More
Last week in a small city in the Ruhr area of Germany, a film that I made inside the video game Grand Theft Auto was screened at the Oberhausen International Short Film Festival, as part of an extensive overview of … Read More
Iconoclastic film director Wes Anderson says of his films: I always feel like any character from one of my movies could walk into another one of the movies and be at home there. With the premiere of Asteroid City at … Read More
They told me the church was my mother. I learned that at school, and in the seminary. ‘Holy Mother Church’, they said. But I soon discovered that she was a bitch. This was one of the first things Father Bob … Read More
As environments, peatlands have undergone a remarkable transformation over the last few decades from “Cinderella” habitats, regarded as ecologically worthless in the 1980s, to today’s ecosystem superstars – crucial for biodiversity, carbon capture and regulating the water supply. This new … Read More
When the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences announced the nominees for its 95th Oscars and three of the most celebrated films of the season – “The Woman King,” “Till” and “Saint Omer” – received no nominations, a familiar … Read More
When Marvel Studios released “Black Panther” in February 2018, it marked the first Marvel Cinematic Universe film to feature a Black superhero and star a predominantly Black cast. Its estimated production budget was US$200 million, making it the first Black … Read More
In 1972, “Deep Throat,” a feature-length porn film directed by Gerard Damiano, was hailed for moving pornography into the mainstream and beginning a golden age of theatrical porn. To mark the 50th anniversary of its release, a restored high-resolution version … Read More
Jean-Luc Godard, who has died at the age of 91, was the last survivor of the French New Wave (Nouvelle Vague), the immensely influential movement of rebellious young filmmakers and critics who ensured that French cinema was the focus of … Read More
The woman’s name is Nora, and she’s getting out of the pool when she goes to look at the guy she’s seeing and sees something better: a sexy stranger, Javo, who radiates a type of bruisy depth. He hangs back … Read More
A Big Adventure, John Byrne’s retrospective at Glasgow’s Kelvingrove Art Gallery, offers a fascinating insight into the breadth of skills of one of Scotland’s best-known creative forces. During an illustrious career he has traversed a number of cultural genres with … Read More
Entertainer and author Janelle Monáe performs during the 2019 Grammys flanked by android-like backup dancers. Kevin Winter/Getty Images The new sci-fi musical “Neptune Frost,” set in a Rwandan village constructed with computer parts, tells the story of an intersex hacker … Read More
Films with powerful environmentally centred narratives can transform our thinking and connect us with nature in ways that scientific papers cannot. For example, Studio Ghibli, a renowned Japanese film studio co-founded by animator Hayao Miyazaki, creates complex visual stories about … Read More
Screen production was hit hard by the pandemic, with delayed releases and interrupted or cancelled production. One day we might even get to see Mission Impossible 7. But, like your typical screen hero, it might just be the metaverse to … Read More
The death of director Jean-Marc Vallée at the age of 58, on Dec. 25, sent shock waves throughout Québec and the international film industry. His critically acclaimed work broke many taboos and, combined with his unique esthetic, made Vallée an … Read More
This article is part of a series providing school students with evidence-based advice for choosing subjects in their senior years. If you’re thinking of taking a performing or visual arts subject in years 11 and 12, you are probably weighing … Read More
Review: Disney: The Magic of Animation at ACMI. Disney is one of the longest running animation studios in the world. As a result, the studio’s nearly 100 year legacy also provides a substantial insight into the history of the animated … Read More
Chloé Zhao has made history at the 93rd Academy Awards as the first Asian-American woman and first woman of colour to win Best Director. She won for Nomadland, which Zhao also edited, produced, and adapted as a screenplay (from the … Read More
With the release of the first-world-war film Gallipoli in 1981, director Peter Weir could finally shrug off the nickname he had laboured under since making his first films: “Peter Weird”. Idiosyncratic work like Homesdale (1971), The Cars That Ate … Read More
What makes a film a classic? In this video series, film scholar Bruce Isaacs looks at a classic film and analyses its brilliance. Great Italian directors of the 1960s and 1970s were skilled visual stylists. Cinematic examples include L’Aventura (1960), … Read More
This year, with the nomination of both Chloé Zhao and Emerald Fennell in the Academy Awards’ Best Director category — and their films in Best Picture — it seems at last the Oscars powerbrokers have learned to count, putting more … Read More
Over 2,000 languages are spoken in Africa, with multilingualism a common feature of everyday life. Across the continent, though, millions of school pupils aren’t taught in their mother tongue. Zambia, for instance, is a country with a huge range of … Read More
“Here are your handcuffs. Now, how would you like to wear them?” Each time I embark on a new low-budget independent film, this is the mantra that begins to play on a loop in my head. In the summer of … Read More
I’m no fan of horror movies. At least I wasn’t until I moved from Hollywood back to my hometown of Pittsburgh, where I met the legendary independent filmmaker George Romero, best known as the inventor of the modern-day zombie and … Read More
Hollywood’s heavyweights joined forces last week to ask the US government to help save cinemas. Directors James Cameron, Patty Jenkins and Martin Scorsese warned that cinemas “may not survive the impact of the pandemic,” with more than two thirds likely … Read More
What makes a film a classic? In this video series, film scholar Bruce Isaacs looks at a classic film and analyses its brilliance. Watching Christopher Nolan’s 2010 film Inception, especially in the cinema, is an overwhelming experience. The viewer has … Read More
Images are all around us. But what about the images you may never have seen, which influence the storytelling you watch every day? Storyboarding often forms a crucial part of the pre-production process of film, television, animation, game design, advertising, … Read More
What makes a film a classic? In this video series, film scholar Bruce Isaacs looks at a classic film and analyses its brilliance. (Warning: this video contains violence and may be upsetting for some viewers.) There is perhaps no better … Read More