Henry Bevan with his top five movie explorers… After debuting to generally positive response in the UK, director James Gray’s absorbing, thought-provoking, and fascinating The Lost City of Z is opening in the United States. The film follows the exploits of the real-life explorer Percy Fawcett, played by Charlie Hunnam, leading up to his famous […]
A Wrinkle In Business: Disney’s Blind Spot When It Comes to Science Fiction
Henry Bevan on Disney’s sci-fi efforts… Those who have read James Stewart’s The Disney War will know that the company creates its most ambitious work when it shies away from filmmaking formulas. The Neo-Disney period (or the post-renaissance or second dark age or whatever) that followed the fabled Disney Renaissance, and contained animated wonders like […]
Kathryn Bigelow and cinematic journalism
Henry Bevan on Kathryn Bigelow and cinematic journalism… Hollywood is obsessed with journalists. From Howard Hawks pictures to most superhero films and romcoms, journalists are often window dressing for plot and snarky dialogue. Journalists themselves are represented as sheriffs or scoundrels, often overly moralistic or morally bankrupt. For an industry in love with newsroom culture, […]
Why Have People Forgotten That Superhero Cinema’s Golden Age Was the Mid-Noughties?
Henry Bevan on the golden age of superhero cinema… Wonder Woman will save the DC Extended Universe. This is a loaded statement, but at this point, it seems everyone will save the DCEU. We all need a hero, and my money is on Diana Prince. The latest trailer only strengthens my belief. My belief that […]
LEGO Batman Is The Hero Hollywood Needs Right Now
Henry Bevan on why LEGO Batman is the hero Hollywood needs right now… The Joker is Batman’s greatest enemy, and he has been almost since the start. Batman may have the best roster of rogues (rivalled only by Spider-Man), but nothing gets Bat-fans excited more than a tussle with the Clown Prince of Crime. A […]
Can Superhero Movies Be More Than Superhero Movies?
Henry Bevan on whether superhero movies can be more than just superhero movies… When the Spider-Man: Homecoming trailer superhero landed on the web, it seemed Marvel had delivered their promise to make this Spidey flick a teen movie. Until the Vulture appeared and it swerved into the required superhero CGI action. The difference was — […]
Remembering Carrie, the best Stephen King adaptation
Henry Bevan on Carrie… The camera glides through the girls’ locker room. The girls are in various states of undress; steam from the shower creates a dreamlike quality, shrouding the scene, fogging up the lens. The camera pushes in on Carrie (Sissy Spacek) as she rubs herself with soap. It focuses on various parts of […]
Looking Back at James Cameron’s Aborted Spider-Man Movie
Henry Bevan looks back at what could have been with James Cameron’s Spider-Man… James Cameron’s Spider-Man. It’s a big What If..?, up there with Kubrick’s Napoleon and Jodorowsky’s Dune. It seems like the perfect match, pairing one of Hollywood’s best action directors with one of its most action-suited characters. Just imagine what Cameron would have done […]
Why We Need Contrarians
Henry Bevan on why we need contrarians… Sometimes falling in love with a movie is like falling in love with a partner who isn’t right for you. At first, your love blinds you to the flaws. Then, when you break up, you say the meanest things. When things cool down you’ll find the truth: was […]
Is Cinema Really Dead If Scorsese Says It Is?
Henry Bevan on whether cinema is really dead… The ‘cinema is dead’ narrative has gone around for a while. It is normally spouted by some blogger who wants to get across their “hot take”. But, sometimes, someone of note joins in, and as 2016 came to a close, a director trifecta chimed in — Martin […]
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