Every year the Academy Awards celebrates the craft and creativity behind animated cinema, and the winner of Best Animated Feature often goes on to become a defining work of its era. The 2018 Oscar race brought together well-known studio tentpoles and smaller, artistically ambitious productions. Pixar, DreamWorks, and Blue Sky Studios competed alongside independent and … Read more

With the anticipated release of Lady Bird, Greta Gerwig’s coming-of-age drama about a headstrong teenager and her fraught relationship with her mother, it feels timely to highlight some of the most memorable and unconventional mother–daughter relationships on screen. If you’re waiting for Lady Bird to hit theaters and want a cinematic fix in the meantime, … Read more

BAFTA Winners and Highlights — Royal Albert Hall Ceremony Joanna Lumley made her debut as host of the EE British Academy Film Awards at the Royal Albert Hall in London, where leading talents from British and international cinema were celebrated. The ceremony was dominated by the critical and commercial success of Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, … Read more

Marvel Studios’ Black Panther was one of the most significant cinematic releases in recent years, breaking ticket pre-sale records and earning widespread critical praise. As of February 18, 2018, the film held a 97% score on Rotten Tomatoes, the highest for any Marvel film at that time. The production brought together director and co-writer Ryan … Read more

Beyond the mechanical romances in some mainstream releases and the awkward misfires of movies like Fifty Shades, cinema has repeatedly produced deeply relatable and intensely sensual portraits of love, desire and heartbreak. Occasionally a filmmaker creates an unmistakable aura of sexuality — a careful, cinematic heat that rivals the most evocative erotic novels and the … Read more

Just one member of a well-known filmmaking family that includes Rance Howard (his father), Clint Howard (his brother, who often appears in small roles) and Bryce Dallas Howard (his daughter), Ron Howard has built a long career as a filmmaker known for storytelling with warmth, heart and solid craftsmanship. Across five decades he has directed … Read more

Potentially one of the most divisive films of 2017, Darren Aronofsky’s Mother! has inspired intense debate and interpretation. A quick online search will turn up numerous essays and explainers that map the film’s religious references and attempt to decode most of its deliberate enigmas. Aronofsky himself weighed in during a Reddit AMA, describing the film … Read more

The Post (2018) Director: Steven Spielberg Screenwriters: Liz Hannah, Josh Singer Starring: Meryl Streep, Tom Hanks, Alison Brie, Carrie Coon, Bruce Greenwood, Tracy Letts, Bob Odenkirk, Sarah Paulson, Matthew Rhys, Bradley Whitford Steven Spielberg’s The Post revisits a crucial chapter in American journalism, dramatizing The Washington Post’s decision to publish classified documents about the Vietnam … Read more

Introduction to Soviet Montage and Sergei Eisenstein This short essay introduces Soviet Montage and the work of Sergei Eisenstein within the Soviet School of cinema. It is intended as an accessible overview rather than an exhaustive history of the subject. Sergei Eisenstein During the early twentieth century, avant-garde movements spread across Europe and found a … Read more

Darkest Hour (2018) Director: Joe Wright Screenwriter: Anthony McCarten Starring: Gary Oldman, Stephen Dillane, Lily James, Ben Mendelsohn, Ronald Pickup, Kristin Scott Thomas Joe Wright’s Darkest Hour recounts the critical fortnight after Winston Churchill became British prime minister, centered on the crisis that culminated in the Dunkirk evacuation. The film struggles at times with heavy-handed … Read more