Arctic (2018)
Arctic‘s survival thriller builds into an ode to resilience and dogged self-determination.
Doctor Strange (2016)
Don’t be fooled by the smoke and mirrors – beneath Doctor Strange’s shiny coat of paint is a vanilla origin story.
How Will Daniel Craig’s James Bond Be Remembered?
If you’ve paid any attention at all to Daniel Craig’s press tour for the new James Bond film, Spectre, you’d be aware that Craig is pretty well disenchanted with 007. Maybe “really fucking over it” is a better description. He’s described Bond as a “misogynist”, noting that “a lot of women are drawn to him…
The Salvation (2014)
The Salvation reminded me of Sergio Leone’s Spaghetti Westerns. Not, I should hasten to add, because it approaches the mastery of Leone’s films, but rather in the way a foreign filmmaker (director Kristian Levring is Danish) approaches an acutely American genre from a unique perspective. There are some Leone similarities in how Levring’s screenplay (co-written…
The 86th Academy Awards – Predictions and Thoughts
I’m not really that interested in getting too caught up in the Oscars fol-de-rol that consumes the critical community around this time of year. I read a lot about the Academy Awards because, well, it’s people getting passionate about film! People arguing emphatically about which film is better and the industry, about who will win…
The Top 10 (or 12) Episodes of Television in 2013
10. Spartacus: War of the Damned – “Victory” Not the last finale on this list, “Victory” is a triumphant conclusion to a slightly overstuffed season of the great, underrated Spartacus. With a substantial list of casualties, “Victory” was defined by tragedy and, yes, victory, even if that victory was a moral one, not born of…
Manhunter (1986)
Manhunter has much to recommend it; as the first adaptation of Thomas Harris’s books, it hasn’t had the same cultural impact of the superior Silence of the Lambs, but it benefits from Harris’s richly considered world, falling somewhere between fantasy and realism. Even without knowledge of Harris’s canon, the characters feel fully-developed, even in minor…
Commentary: Television Gone Mad – How Television is Maturing in its Approach to Mental Illness
In any given year, one in four Americans will experience a mental disorder1. Yet, turning on their televisions, searching for relatable protagonists, what do they find? Insanity as a precursor to violence, an excuse for murderers and rapists. Depression and anxiety as signifiers of weakness rather than symptoms of a disorder. Unless, perhaps, they turn…
The Hunt (2012)
A few years ago, I discovered that my Grade Six teacher had been convicted of sexual misconduct with a student. It was a world-shattering surprise, like my insides had collapsed into nothingness. That moment of immeasurable shock occurs many times across the course of The Hunt, as kindergarten teacher Lucas (Mads Mikkelsen) is accused of…
Hannibal – “Savoureux” (Season 1, Episode 13)
Hannibal is a lean show, almost utterly devoid of connective tissue (well, unless you count the flayed bodies on display). This leanness worked in its benefit in its first season finale, particularly as Will Graham staggers around Dr Lecter’s office, trying to puzzle out if he could actually be responsible for the copycat murders. It’s…
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