Are We Running Out Of Heroes?
It’s hard to know exactly when the concept of the action-cum-superhero movie started spinning out of control. I’m not sure if I’d place it...
“The world outside our window”: Musings on Marvel
It was recently announced that Penguin Classics would be publishing special editions of certain Marvel comic books. The comics will be part of a...
Eternals: A Structurally Misunderstood Masterpiece
Marvel’s Eternals, the 26th film in the Marvel Cinematic Universe, was released to somewhat middling critical reception, despite largely positive audience scores. I think it’s a brilliant film, despite the considerable body of opinion that stands in vehement disagreement.
Ingmar Bergman And The Self-Aware Blockbuster
Don’t worry, this isn’t one of those articles about how superhero blockbusters are awful compared to classic movies. No, I’m here to explore the weird commonality between Ingmar Bergman’s The Magic Flute and modern blockbusters. Linking these different approaches to film will be a strange journey, but at its end lies an intriguing idea: that reality and fiction may be one and the same.
Behind the Screens: The Good, the Bad and the Ugly of Referencing in Film
Referencing in Hollywood is a bit like a currency at the moment; writers can buy some pre-existing emotional attachment, with very little effort on...
Comfort Films: Cars
Last summer a friend recommended I watch Shaun of The Dead. The idea of walking around London now, surrounded by potentially asymptomatic people, does...
An alternative to ‘Fast Film’
Modern cinema is rubbish - it is time to rediscover some old classics to remind ourselves what it is to be truly moved by film.
Fandom: democracy or tyranny?
Hollywood's decisions have become increasingly determined by internet fandoms
Ant-Man and the Wasp review – the best comedies come in the smallest packages
After the cosmic scale of Avengers: Infinity War, Paul Rudd brings Marvel's latest entry back down to size
Review: Avengers: Infinity War
Tony Stark (Robert Downey Jr) donned his iron suit for the first time a whole decade ago, establishing the groundwork for a cinematic universe...
Black Panther celebrates black culture in all its glory
Examining the social power of Marvel's latest release
A sequel packed with character and heart
"Director James Gunn has crafted one of the funniest and most genuinely moving Marvel films I can remember."
Calum Bradshaw has his doubts hushed by Guardians of the Galaxy Vol.2
How the ensemble superhero film became king
"4 May 2012 was a day that changed the landscape of cinema. Joss Whedon’s 'Avengers Assemble,' the climax of the first phase of the Marvel Cinematic Universe, was an epoch-making, trend-setting, earth-shattering event, the apotheosis of Marvel’s shared universe project."
Christopher Goring examines Marvel's winning formula
In the age of franchises, are originals dead?
Calum Bradshaw questions the decline of film innovation in recent years
