Marvel Studios launched its second phase of films with Iron Man 3, a film filled with bold storytelling choices and irreverent humour that would become hallmarks of the MCU.
Perhaps it was redundant after the previous Spider-Man trilogy, or was overshadowed by more high-profile summer 2012 superhero films, or was lumped in with its truly awful sequel, but The Amazing Spider-Man is a fine superhero film.
Director Björn Runge finds it easy to relate to women in his filmmaking. He discusses his work on the film adaptation of Meg Wolitzer's The Wife with PopMatters' Paul Risker.
By perfecting the comic book superhero formula and creating the first big-budget shared universe with The Avengers in 2012, Joss Whedon and Marvel Studios came to define this decade of blockbuster filmmaking.
James Marsh reflects on embracing the truth in spite of its vulgarity and awkwardnesses to tell a dramatised factual account of the Hatton Garden diamond heist in his film, King of Thieves.
Alex Garland relied on HeLa easter eggs to proffer a "key" to the Shimmer in Annihilation, but his interpretation mimics the instrumentalization decried throughout Rebecca Skloot's The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks.
As in all the best detective stories, the heroes of Denis Villeneuve's Prisoners are wrestling with questions much deeper than those of the case itself.
Flashy directors Mark Neveldine and Brian Taylor attempted to make Ghost Rider: Spirit of Vengeance more exciting than its predecessor, but their style sapped the energy that fueled the flame.
Kino Lorber's release of Personal Problems can be seen as a major intervention in recovering "lost" videotapes, representing an important black collective creative contribution of US grassroots videomaking.
Monsters and Men Director Reinaldo Marcus Green's triptych narrative about a police shooting of an unarmed civilian takes viewers to that complicated place that occurs in a single moment: What should I do?
For Heidegger, "challenge" is a pejorative verb. But for Terrence Malick, "challenge" is a progressive verb. Malick's cinema is challenging, and we need that challenge.
Takashi Doscher reflects on Still's emergence from a personal lifetime commitment and whether time transforms the meaning of our social constructs and relationships.
From epic John Ford-type western shots to intimate close-ups, Director Max Martini talks about the filming methods used to convey PTSD in his latest, SGT. Will Gardner.
The director and co-writers of Destroyer discuss Nicole Kidman's uncharacteristically rugged performance and how their collaboration brought forth the film's unconventional story structure.
Marvel Studios recognized that by mining other genres through the superhero lens, it could continue to keep comic book films fresh and entertaining to audiences and sidestep the constant predictions of imminent superhero fatigue.
