Features archive
May The Schwartz Be With You: When Parody Outstrips Its Source
November 27, 2014
“Grow up,” you might say, to someone defending Spaceballs. But Adam Nayman argues that’s exactly what that film helped him do
Veterans of their Crafts: Brian Johnson and David Cronenberg
November 21, 2014
Brian Johnson, a writer/novelist-turned-director, chats with David Cronenberg, a director-turned-novelist.
Too Many Cooks: Stirring Christopher Nolan’s Critical Broth
November 13, 2014
Angelo Muredda comments on Interstellar and reactionary prescriptions to what “good criticism” is.
Tricks of the Documentary Trade: The Non-Fiction Twist
November 6, 2014
Twists are typical of fiction, but as Jason Gorber writes, non-fiction filmmaking can reveal some devastating surprises.
Books, Beats, and Birds: This Season’s “Honest” Characters
October 30, 2014
Andrew Parker looks at three recent films that openly discuss the nature in which artists perceive harsh and brutal criticism.
The Day I Discovered Stanley Kubrick
October 23, 2014
Peter Howell reflects on the first time he saw 2001: A Space Odyssey. “We were all suitably awed by the Glendale’s huge curved screen, which is still the most impressive one I’ve ever seen.”
I’ll Take That, Thanks: Genre Films and Horror Hybridity
October 16, 2014
As much fun as their gene-splicing, cliché-mashing and shameless pilfering can be, genre filmmakers may have become worryingly risk-averse. With Toronto After Dark 2014 creeping its way into town, Jason Anderson looks at Wyrmwood and Kumiko, the Treasure Hunter as examples of a mongrelized tradition defined by cross-pollination
Music and Lyrics: God Help the Girl and True Stories
October 9, 2014
“Some pop songs feel like short films.” Adam Nayman explores musicians who have also turned to filmmaking.
Sleeping with the Enemy: Gone Girl and the challenge of movies about marriage and murder
October 2, 2014
Jason Anderson dissects the wreckage that results when two people who’ve pledged to love and care for one another instead come to feel very differently about the person on the other side of the bed.
In a Future Canada: Sizing Up Canada’s Oscar Hopeful Mommy
September 25, 2014
Angelo Muredda writes about Xavier Dolan’s “Mommy” and how it reflects against recent Canadian Oscar contenders.