Film Essays and Analysis
For Only A Fistful Of Dollars – How A Low Budget Western Reinvented the Hollywood Hero - The Sergio Leone directed Spaghetti Western 'A Fistful of Dollars' left an indelible mark on the film industry in a lot of ways, but how it reshaped the male hero may be its biggest. Article by Stephen Vega.
When Love Transcends Time (Travel) - "Time travel [...] can miraculously give characters their happily ever after, snatch it cruelly away, or both." Time travel and love in cinema - an essay by Sam Sewell-Peterson.
The Trickling Influence of ‘Inception’ - How Christopher Nolan hit 'Inception' "mark[ed] the turning of the tide – planting the idea of the more intelligent blockbuster". Article by Aaron Bayne.
Rachel McAdams: The Time-Traveller’s Wife - "I have a question for you Rachel McAdams: where is your agency? And, why do you have such a thing for time-travellers?" - Annice White on Rachel McAdams: the time traveller's wife.
How Music Reframes the Violence in You Were Never Really Here - How the music composed by Jonny Greenwood for 'You Were Never Really Here' borrows from Aphex Twin to create a dialogue between character and narrative. Essay by Cole Clark.
How Every Element in the Final Sequence from ‘The Talented Mr. Ripley’ Works To Create A Wonderfully Disturbing Finale - How Anthony Minghella's 'The Talented Mr. Ripley' borrows from Hitchcock and Film Noir to create a phenomenal and tense final sequence. Analysis by Sophie Cook.
Real-Time: Examining How the Safdie Brothers Experiment with Naturalistic Cinema - Are Josh and Benny Safdie, The Safdie Brothers, the quiet revolutionaries of contemporary cinema? Leoni Horton examines their exploration of naturalistic filmmaking thus far, looking at the likes of 'Uncut Gems' and 'Good Time'.
Superhero Bust: The Future of the Superhero Genre - Have we seen the pinnacle of the superhero movie mountain? Gillian MacLeod looks at the facts, analysing the genre in conjunction with a prominent film theory in this special superhero movie essay.
An American Werewolf In London – Unfinished Game-Changing Fun - Roger Ebert once described horror-comedy 'An American Werewolf in London' (1981), from director John Landis, as "unfinished". Sarah Williams looks at how this unfinished movie changed the game by making horror fun.
‘Green Street’ and Toxic Masculinity - Toxic masculinity and violence in 'Green Street' (2005) starring Elijah Wood and Charlie Hunnam. How critique of the film seems to have missed the point, as written by George Forster.