The Empire That Ate Cinema: How Hollywood Became Central
By the first years of the twentieth century, The Movies had become a business. Companies were being founded, studios built, prints shipped abroad and audiences gathered wherever somebody could put up a screen. France had gained the early lead. Pathé grew with astonishing speed, producing films,...
War Machine Gets Away With Far Too Much – A Review
War Machine had me gripped by sequences I thought were colossally stupid. I worried about whether these people would get out while also wondering why they had ended up in that situation. Director Patrick Hughes sends Alan Ritchson through Army Ranger selection, then sets an enormous...
The Empire That Ate Cinema: Who Owns the Global Box Office?
Spider-Man: Brand New Day has done something extraordinary. In a little over two months, it has earned more than $2.5 billion worldwide, overtaken Titanic and Ne Zha 2, and climbed to third place on the all-time box-office chart. Only Avengers: Endgame and Avatar remain above...
Short of Style, Starved of Substance in The Uprising – A Review
This review contains minor spoilers. Watching The Uprising, I kept having to ask whether the things making me angry had actually happened. Paul Greengrass’s film spends a long time struggling to make its rebellion compelling, then reaches for events the historical record does not support. Andrew Garfield...