While the foregoing title implies the fate of many characters of director Clint Eastwood’s 1992 feature film, Unforgiven, it also suggests something much more explicit: everyone has their first Eastwood Western, and as atypical as Unforgiven may be made out to be, and this was ours. There were a few things, apart from distinct trademarks, that 1992’s Unforgiven‘s direction has: a…
Filmed From (and Behind) the Shoulders of Giants: Revisiting 2016’s The BFG (Spoilers Ahead)
Among director Steven Spielberg’s trademarks, as we’ve come to understand over the past fortnight, are the Spielberg face, circular-ly enclosed objects of focus and over-the-shoulder cinematography. While the title gives that last one, and the preponderance thereof in director Spielberg’s 2016 feature film, The BFG, away, it is justified to acknowledge that, among other trademarks, in The…
You Could Cut The Tension With a Truck: Looking Back on 1971’s Duel (Spoilers Ahead)
There’s a stretch of commentary, attributable in this case to writer Robert McKee, that says that the simpler a story is, the more interpretations it will foster. Director Steven Spielberg’s 1971 television, later feature, film, Duel, is that sort of movie: one man is chased by one truck down a stretch of desert highway and people…
‘An Adventure? We’re On One Right Now’: Our Review of 2016’s Pete’s Dragon (Spoilers Ahead)
There’s a scene in Walt Disney Studios and director David Lowery’s 2016 feature film Pete’s Dragon when Robert Redford’s Mr Meachum suggests that living, with only your eyes open, is a prerequisite to missing out on so much in life. This year’s Pete’s Dragon functions on a similar but almost inverse level: you could watch it with just your…
‘Only US Airways 1549 Matters Today’: Our Review of 2016’s Sully (Spoilers Ahead)
There’s a point to be discussed when films are different than advertised. The sole trailer for director Clint Eastwood’s recently released 2016 feature film, Sully, suggested a tense film verging on the disaster sort of movie. The, subjectively interpreted, truth of Sully is different: even in the tensest of scenes, as epitomised in the moment of birdstrike, director…
‘I Don’t Need to be a Champion. I Need to Fight’: Our Review of 2016’s Hands of Stone (Spoilers Ahead)
There’s a case to be made, one that cuts both ways, for how movies should deal with matters of message and their delivery: you could use metaphor and imagery to show or illustrate the point-in-waiting without explicitly telling the audience or you could rely on both showing and telling the point-to-be-made with a payoff or realisation that…
‘He’s a Man From Outer Space and We’re Taking Him To His Spaceship!’: Looking Back on 1982’s E.T. The Extra-Terrestrial (Spoilers Ahead)
Echoing our previous reviews of the likes of Jaws (spoilers ahead) and Close Encounters of the Third Kind (spoilers ahead), director Steven Spielberg’s 1982 feature film – don’t worry, we’re saving a dedicated week for the likes of Indiana Jones – E.T. The Extra-Terrestrial is, in a title-justifying sort of way, makes its plot implied from the get-go all the way…
Close Encounters of the Homage-Perpetuating Kind: Looking Back on 1977’s Close Encounters of the Third Kind (Spoilers Ahead)
There were several titles, both prior to and during the course of writing, for our commentary on director Steven Spielberg’s 1977 feature film, Close Encounters of the Third Kind: The Spielberg Face: The Movie, Proto-Super 8, Indianapolis Day (we just made that one up) and others that aren’t especially impliedly flattering for most well-known science-fiction movies since Close Encounters…
‘The Things We Do For Our Children’: Our Review of 2016’s Hell or High Water (Spoilers Ahead)
The implicit advice in the title is key. As you go, or choose not to go, to a nearby screening of director David Mackenzie’s 2016 feature film, Hell or High Water, please remember that this is a movie about ‘the things we do for our children’. With that in mind, Hell or High Water, is easy to…
Of Rogues and Rational Men: Looking Back on 1975’s Jaws (Spoilers Ahead)
Among the many takeaways from director Steven Spielberg 1975 feature film, Jaws, is that sometimes, and I’ve not ungroundedly been waiting to say this for so very long, sometimes the (arguably more deceptively) simpler films are among the best. That and never underestimate the power or presence of foreshadowing and silhouette-heavy cinematography. More on all of those (and more)…
‘If You Must Blink, Do It Now’: Our Review of 2016’s Kubo and the Two Strings (Spoilers Ahead)
The aforemented, and titular, advice is especially valid. Laika Animation and director Travis Knight’s Kubo and the Two Strings is a well-told story about a destiny-d storyteller that rewards those punctual and attentive enough to watch a movie from its start through to the very end. Yes, they even let you in on what the title actually means if…
Creative Duality: Our Review of 2016’s Genius (Spoilers Ahead)
Running the risk of reviewers’ cliché, there is a moment in director Michael Grandage’s Genius that best captures why the film works on a human level: Jude Law’s Thomas Wolfe asks his editor, Colin Firth’s Max Perkins, to allow a final paragraph into his manuscript, despite the protests of the latter that they’ll be stuck editing another…
The Cinemorph 