Month: December 2022
Glass Onion: Whodunnit in the modern era
by Matt Ward
Three years ago, writer/director Rian Johnson wowed audiences with an unexpected, compelling and hilarious take on the classic Agatha Christie-esque murder mystery genre. His Knives Out brought viewers into the world of a rural New England town filled with intrigue, suspicion and family tension while debuting an eccentric Southern detective on par with Hercule Poirot and Sherlock Holmes in Daniel Craig’s Benoit Blanc. The … Read More Glass Onion: Whodunnit in the modern era
Avatar 2: Big waves, shallow depth
by Matt Ward
James Cameron hasn’t made a new film in over a decade. The blockbuster spectacle-creator behind epic movies like Aliens, The Terminator and Titanic last showed his craft on the big screen in 2009 with a technologically revolutionary feature about human colonizers on a space world in Avatar, an Oscar nominee for Best Picture that won several technical awards. Since then, Cameron has long sought … Read More Avatar 2: Big waves, shallow depth
Empire of Light: Cinema in all capital letters
by Matt Ward
One of an auteur’s favorite things to center their films around is the art of cinema itself. Filmmakers started off their careers as moviegoers and these experiences color and impact everything about how they write, direct and produce their own work. Sam Mendes’ extensive theater and filmmaking background come to fruition with his latest film, Empire of Light, a languishing, self-indulgent look at the … Read More Empire of Light: Cinema in all capital letters
Devotion: Old school war drama
by Matt Ward
It’s often said that “they just don’t make ‘em like they used to anymore.” This is especially true when it comes to the world of filmmaking, where studios are consolidating the types of movies they produce in order to maximize profit margins. Whether it’s due to analytics or the whim of a finicky studio head, certain types of films just aren’t being greenlit or … Read More Devotion: Old school war drama
Cinematic Considerations 