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 […]
Is a spoiler the end of the world?
Henry Bevan on spoilers… I lasted five days. Five days without having someone spoil the new episode of Game of Thrones. Those days were spent in constant fear. I was like one of the journalists in All The Presidents Men, constantly looking over my shoulder for the innocent bystander who might tell me what the […]
Remembering Sky High, the first teen movie superhero hybrid
Henry Bevan on Sky High… In the week since its release Spider-Man: Homecoming has created a lot of web traffic. People have posted countless thought pieces on the wall-crawler with many focusing on how it attempts to be Ferris Bueller’s Day Off with spandex. While I think the film admirably fails to transcend the superhero genre (partly because […]
Binge-Watching the Spider-Man Movie Series
Henry Bevan binge-watches the Spider-Man movie series… Inspired by our viewing of Spider-Man: Homecoming, a film this website called “the best Spider-Man movie to date” and “another hit for the carefully crafted MCU”, a mate and I decided we should binge watch the previous five movies. While I’m personally conflicted about my favourite superhero’s latest […]
In Defence of Conventional Storytelling
Henry Bevan defends conventional storytelling… One of the most annoying and backhanded critical compliments is “it’s great but conventional.” So many films met with critical acclaim are often simultaneously bashed for presenting their stories in a popular way. It is lazy and naive thinking to dismiss something as conventional without engaging with why it is. […]
Do We Judge a Film Before We Watch It?
Henry Bevan on whether we judge a film before we watch it… One of the most disheartening things ever happened a few days ago. Dwayne Johnson, The Rock, generally awesome dude and woke bae, attacked film critics on Twitter because they didn’t like his new movie, Baywatch. According to Dwayne, “Fans LOVE the movie” whilst […]
The Rise of the Stupid Smart Character, or Why Helmets Matter
Henry Bevan on the rise of the stupid smart character… If you’ve been browsing this website over the last couple of days you will have noticed there has been a lot of Alien: Covenant content. We’ve published not one, not two but three reviews. We’ve written letters to David Fincher, we’ve talked about Ridley Scott, […]
Dear David Fincher, Please Return to the Alien Franchise
Henry Bevan with an open letter to David Fincher… Dear David, I’m going to jump right into it: you should consider lobbying to direct the next Alien movie, whatever it may be. Don’t stop reading! I know your last experience of the franchise on Alien 3 was a clusterfuck and you felt your career was being […]
What is the modern teen movie?
Henry Bevan on the modern teen movie… Jerky jocks; nebbish nerds; the girl next door who is unfairly called a whore; the hot girl; the bitchy cheerleader; the ugly girl who’s actually a swan; the self-loathing teachers; teachers who sleep with students; teachers who are bad at their jobs; crowded school corridors; cool kids who […]
Why Spider-Man will stay in the Marvel Cinematic Universe beyond 2019
Henry Bevan on Spider-Man and the Marvel Cinematic Universe… Some things in Hollywood are inevitable. One, Tom Cruise will do a ridiculous stunt. Two, James Bond will return. Three, the weird Sony-Marvel Spider-Man adoption deal is going to be hit with some studio politics. It happened this week with Kevin Feige telling the Hollywood Reporter […]