Category: Articles
The Hard Men: British Bad Guys
British actors have long been sought after by American filmmakers. They like to cast them as villains, or as upperclass, witless saps. They are often used as Nazis, and have provided the James Bond franchise with some of its more memorable arch-enemies. Maybe it’s the accent, perhaps it’s the old animosity from the 1770s, but…
The Cruelest Month: Why Most Films Released in January are Terrible
January’s the cruelest month, breeding Redundancy in each frame, mixing A-Listers and High Concepts, stirring Dull plots with big names. No offence to T.S. Eliot, the greatest of all American poets. His correspondence with Groucho Marx alone can make you feel better about the wit and wisdom that mankind is capable of. But when it…
The ‘Ishtar’ Effect: Changing Perceptions and the Allure of Objectivity
I didn’t think Ishtar (1987) was all that bad. I know, I know. It was one of the big box-office bombs of the 1980s, raked over the coals for its bloated budget and not-as-funny-as-it-should’ve-been script, among other issues. Yet I have to wonder if it really lives up (or down) to its reputation, given the…
From Feathers to Fields: Our 10 Favourite Comedies, 1930-1945
It is a mystery that plagues pop psychologists and culturists alike. What happened to the American sense of humour? American film comedy, which dominated the world in the silent era with towering figures like Chaplin, Keaton, and Lloyd, took a few years to figure out the new synch sound medium in the late ’20s, and…
10 Great Films Made on a Small Budget in 2014
Warning: What follows has something to do with math. But don’t worry. It’s not very complicated. I can’t read a balance sheet. The only thing I know about sines is that I am a Capricorn. Cosines? My parents cosigned my first car loan. Anything with the word “multivariable” scares me more than Russell Crowe singing.…