Long-distance international travellers are more dependent than ever on in-flight entertainment. Unless you can afford lie-flat sleeping, sitting upright and watching a screen is the only alternative. Reading books or newspapers are long gone, although occasionally you see Kindles or iPads. The back-of-the-seat screens offer all types of movies and TV, plus video games and … Read More about Film festival in the skies
Reviews
Star-filled cast flames out
Few filmmakers impose a visual stamp on their work ... Read More about Star-filled cast flames out
Festival spotlights ‘parcel children’
The annual festival season is under way, and that ... Read More about Festival spotlights ‘parcel children’
Epic ice journey retold
Few tales from the heroic age of Antarctic ... Read More about Epic ice journey retold
Movies on mental illness will inevitably be judged by one’s own experience, whether close or casual. This degree of scrutiny hasn’t deterred film-makers from tackling this tricky subject. In decades past, movies set in mental institutions could be viewed as too remote to make an accurate judgment, given they were … Read More about Madness of the heart
The classic Hollywood man-on-a-horse western has all but disappeared, a victim of changing attitudes toward America’s colonial past and the rewriting of history according to modern trends. That decline started after the 1970s, which produced the last movies depicting heroic pioneer settlers as positive and progressive. Baddies always existed in … Read More about Hanks is on a mission
The annual Hollywood awards season is late arriving, but that doesn’t mean it has lost its impact or importance. In fact, it has suddenly brought more choice for both big screen and home viewing. The delay, of course, is Covid-19 related, as most cinemas in North America, Europe, and much … Read More about Awards season boosts choice
The essence of any great ghost story is the ambiguity of whether the supernatural could be a real presence, or is purely in the mind. Henry James wrote The Turn of the Screw as a magazine serial in 1898. It was an instant success, possibly because it was an easy … Read More about Ghosts in the Opera House
The fallout from Covid-19 has proved disastrous for the local box office at a time when moviegoing should be at its peak, boosted by Hollywood Oscar hopefuls. But with studio production still languishing, and continuing pandemic lockdowns around the world, cinemas are having their worst year in decades. In New … Read More about Streaming sweetens summer cinema
Three months in, 2020 was shaping up as another banner year for movies and the cinema industry. The Oscar season was in full swing, with 1917, Little Women, Emma and Richard Jewell among those from prominent directors and making the running with audiences and critics alike. They were backed up … Read More about A forgettable year
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