Screenwriter, film critic, and essayist with an affinity for the world of comic books and the recesses of genre filmmaking
We have Michael Bay to thank (or blame) for the modern blockbuster climax
Dark of the Moon, the strongest film in a weak franchise, created a blueprint for the contemporary overblown blockbuster.
Top Gun is remembered for volleyball and jingoism, but it had more on its mind than it gets credit for
The sequel is raking in acclaim, but the original remains a fascinating look at military machoism.
One of the most important indie thrillers ever made can still shock and entertain today
It’s not Tarantino’s best or most celebrated movie, but it’s one that changed movie history.
The Shining is Kubrick’s famous horror film, but a 1971 thriller is his scariest
You'll never think about crime, punishment, and Gene Kelly the same way again.
Stanley Kubrick’s final movie was also his most beguiling
Stanley Kubrick’s name is synonymous with some of cinema’s most impenetrable and alluring mysteries, and Eyes Wide Shut might be the most fascinating.
How Jaymes Butler gave the scariest movie of 2022 a dose of reality
The Barbarian actor reveals his character’s secret backstory and more.
How Amazon's Nanny fixes the problem of "exotic" horror tropes
For almost as long as the genre has existed on-screen, horror movies have used real cultural mythologies to frighten us. Nanny uses that familiar cinematic language to do something new and moving.
How Joss Whedon’s Justice League blew up the DCEU before it could get started
The first cinematic team-up of the Justice League shockingly became one of the biggest box office bombs in recent memory.
How 28 Days Later predicted the chaos of a new millennium
It may be hard to believe, but there was a time when the zombie as a trope was more dead than undead. Then, Danny Boyle and Alex Garland came along.
David Cronenberg’s The Fly is more relevant than ever
David Cronenberg's The Fly isn't simply one of his most grotesque and horrific creations, but it's also easily his most tragic.
5 years ago, Denis Villeneuve made the best cyberpunk sequel ever
“The future is there… looking back at us. Trying to make sense of the fiction we will have become.”
10 years ago, Joaquin Phoenix made the most realistic cult thriller ever
“If you figure a way to live without serving a master, any master, then let the rest of us know, will you? For you'd be the first person in the history of the world.”
34 years ago, DC’s darkest Batman story redefined death for superheroes
In 1988, comic book fans murdered a 15-year-old boy.
How Watchmen uses time travel to explore the sinister cycles of racism
The HBO adaptation of the iconic graphic novel examines generational trauma via time alteration.
Review: ‘Under the Banner of Heaven’
In the midst of pop culture’s current obsession with true crime and the ethical questions raised by our sensationalist fascination with real-world violence, such an adaptation faces two central responsibilities: one to its audience, to deliver compelling narrative drama, and the second to the tragedy itself, to treat it with an honest lens and a humanist touch.