Love in the Abstract: What Film Can Teach Us About Heartbreak Film speaks in a language of images, sound, and rhythm—subtle signals that steer our expectations. A still frame can suggest calm and control; pulsing music often signals chaos or fear. These conventions are part of why we watch movies: they let us step into … Read more

Sam Raimi is revered by genre fans. Like his New Zealand contemporary Peter Jackson, Raimi began making hand-crafted horror films with friends (including frequent collaborator Bruce Campbell) and rose to lead huge, effects-driven blockbusters for studios such as Sony and Disney. He’s a filmmaker who blends visceral thrills, broad comedy and heartfelt emotion in ways … Read more

Sam Raimi is revered among genre fans. A master filmmaker, he moved from making handcrafted horror films with friends (including frequent collaborator Bruce Campbell) to orchestrating large-scale, effects-driven blockbusters for studios like Sony and Disney. Across a career spanning more than forty years, Raimi has built a devoted audience who love his mix of gore, … Read more

Men (2022) Director: Alex Garland Screenwriter: Alex Garland Starring: Jessie Buckley, Rory Kinnear, Paapa Essiedu, Gayle Rankin, Sarah Twomey, Zak Rothera-Oxley, Sonoya Mizuno Men, perhaps better described as an exercise in unsettling folklore and psychological dread, finds Alex Garland exploring a British folk-horror landscape through a sharp, contemporary lens. The film follows Jessie Buckley’s Harper, … Read more

Men (2022) Director: Alex Garland Screenwriter: Alex Garland Starring: Jessie Buckley, Rory Kinnear, Paapa Essiedu, Gayle Rankin, Sarah Twomey, Zak Rothera-Oxley, Sonoya Mizuno Alex Garland’s Men is a bold, unsettling piece of modern folk horror that leans heavily on atmosphere and symbolism. It follows Jessie Buckley’s Harper, a woman whose life is violently upended after … Read more

If cinema’s purpose is to seize moments, Richard Linklater’s Before Trilogy stands as one of the clearest examples. A love story is a mosaic of moments: glances, touches, heartbreaks, reconciliations. Each film in the trilogy focuses on a distinct phase of a relationship — the spark of falling in love, a chance reconnection years later, … Read more

If cinema’s purpose is to capture moments, Richard Linklater’s Before Trilogy stands as one of the clearest demonstrations of that idea. Love, at its core, is made of fleeting instants: the first glance that changes everything, a hand reaching out, the slow ache of loss, the hesitant work of forgiveness. Each film in Linklater’s trilogy … Read more

This article was originally published to SSP Thinks Film by Sam Sewell-Peterson. Ex Machina (2014) Director: Alex Garland Screenwriter: Alex Garland Starring: Alicia Vikander, Domhnall Gleeson, Oscar Isaac, Sonoya Mizuno For years audiences waited for a film that truly captured the tension, intelligence and ethical dilemmas of an AI thriller. While landmark films like 2001: … Read more

This article was originally published to SSP Thinks Film by Sam Sewell-Peterson. Ex Machina (2014) Director: Alex Garland Screenwriter: Alex Garland Starring: Alicia Vikander, Domhnall Gleeson, Oscar Isaac, Sonoya Mizuno For years audiences waited for a film that would genuinely deliver an intelligent, gripping AI thriller. While memorable scenes from classics like 2001: A Space … Read more

The Bob’s Burgers Movie (2022) Director: Loren Bouchard, Bernard Derriman Screenwriters: Loren Bouchard, Nora Smith Starring: H. Jon Benjamin, Dan Mintz, Eugene Mirman, Kristen Schaal, John Roberts Animated television comedies adapted for the big screen face a familiar challenge: how to remain true to the tone and characters fans cherish while delivering the broader scope … Read more