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Never Ending Endings in 'The Avengers: Endgame' and 'Game of Thrones'

In both The Avengers: Endgame and Game of Thrones, the series' key conflicts are not between good and evil, but between the beginnings and endings of their stories.

Television

Joanna Hogg's 'The Souvenir' Is a Defiantly Autobiographical Domestic Drama

Director Joanna Hogg sheds nuanced light on a dysfunctional relationship similar to one of her own in The Souvenir.

Film

Director Bill Blackhurst Explores Adolescent Life in Post-industrial Britain in His Film, 'Pond Life'

Blackhurst reflects on letting go as director, letting the story just happen, and drawing out the darker side of adolescence in his film, Pond Life.

Film

Racism Further Damns the American Dream in the Young Vic's 'Death of a Salesman'

An accomplished cast ignite Marianne Elliott and Miranda Cromwell's compelling production of Arthur Miller's classic, Death of a Salesman, but does making the Lomans a black family enhance Miller's intentions?

Theatre

'The Man Who Killed Hitler and Then The Bigfoot' Will, Like 'Donnie Darko', Surprise

The title suggests that this would be a schlocky B movie with a '70s-style grindhouse aesthetic, but The Man Who Killed Hitler and Then The Bigfoot is, in fact, a finely crafted and emotionally charged drama about ageing, loneliness, and lost love.

Film

Fair Is Foul and Foul Is Fair But Geoffrey Wright's 'Macbeth' Is Just Foul

Shakespeare's plays offer endless potential for adaptation, but sometimes, as is true of Geoffrey Wright's Macbeth (2006), when these reinterpretations fail we get a clearer impression of the original's genius.

Film

War's Degradation of the Human in Bergman's 'Shame'

Ingmar Bergman's Shame is one of his few films so blatantly concerned with the impositions of the external world,as opposed to the internal, subjective aspects of life.

Film

Can You Relate? Interview with Director Catherine Hardwicke

Director Catherine Hardwicke looks back on her career to date and talks about illuminating the human condition anew in her latest, Miss Bala.

Film

Olivier Assayas' 'Non-Fiction' Fiddles with Seriousness

In Olivier Assayas' speedy, slightly wan dispatch from salon society, Non-Fiction (Doubles vie), Parisians have badly concealed affairs and argue loudly but inconclusively about books and society.

Film

The Troublesome Message of Taming a Woman in 'Tater Tot & Patton'

The dynamic in Andrew Kightlinger's Tater Tot & Patton, wherein it falls on a troubled middle-aged man to teach a young woman how he thinks she ought to behave, is concerning.

Film

Intimacy in World Building: Christopher Caldwell and Zeek Earl on their Indie Sci-fi Film, 'Prospect'

Directors Christopher Caldwell and Zeek Earl reflect on a lack of wisdom for their practical film school with their debut feature, Prospect, and an aspiration to evade the trappings of sci-fi filmmaking.

Film

Three Stylish British Silents: 'Shooting Stars', 'Underground' and 'The Informer'

While Anthony Asquith's Shooting Stars and Underground look excellent on Kino Lorber's digital restoration, Arthur Robison's The Informer, looks most spectacular, thanks to working from the original negative and a tinted nitrate print.

Film

'Her Smell' Is a Rollicking Fever Dream of Abuse and Redemption

Director Alex Ross Perry, a master of acidic comedy, continues his stellar partnership with Elisabeth Moss in Her Smell, a fast-burning rock drama that takes place mostly behind-the-scenes.

Film

Faceted Depictions of War: On Jan Němec's 'Diamonds of the Night' (Démanty noci)

Are fantasies mixed up with memories in Jan Němec's film adaptation of Arnošt Lustig's autobiographical story of surviving WWII, Diamonds of the Night (Démanty noci)? Will these babes forever be in the woods?

Film

Claire Denis Goes for Broke with Hallucinatory Space Thriller, 'High Life'

High Life is more a series of tensions and breaking points than it is a traditionally satisfying space narrative, but Denis's allegiance to directors like Tarkovsky and Kubrick offers an intriguing view of humanity at the gates of the final frontier.

Film

Claire Denis's Splendid 'High Life' Engages and Repulses

In existential nightmare, High Life, Claire Denis explores the darkest intersection between outer space and the human psyche.

Film

Pop Ten

MetalMatters: May 2019 - Back to the Basics and Prepare for Takeoff

Jackie Chan's 10 Best Films

'X-Men: Days of Future Past' Restored the Series to Its Former Glory

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