In critical circles, certain words have toxic connotations. “Conventional.” “Old-fashioned.” “Sentimental.” There are good reasons why these words have gained dubious reputations; the history of cinema is full of condescending movies that subject aud...

Like his previous film, the Oscar-winning drama Moonlight (2016), Barry Jenkins’ new picture, If Beale Street Could Talk, might seem like a difficult artifact from which to extract screenwriting lessons. While both films have received considerable ac...

Given the sheer number of Spider-Man movies that have been released since Tobey Maguire gave Kirsten Dunst that upside-down kiss back in 2002, it’s reasonable to wonder whether there’s anything left to say about the iconic Marvel Comics character. Th...

Given how deeply superhero cinema permeates pop culture nowadays, it’s borderline pointless to complain when a film in this genre defies normal expectations of narrative credibility. Nonetheless, the cheerful outrageousness of Aquaman is quite someth...

Contemporary media has no shortage of stories about complicated police detectives, but there’s always room in the mix for a smartly-crafted piece that uses a murder mystery as a means of exploring character. Destroyer, the new film from respected ind...

When the beloved Disney musical Mary Poppins was released in 1964, ideas of what constituted movie magic were very different than they are now. Not only was Mary Poppins made nearly 20 years before the first CGI movie scenes, but audiences didn’t liv...

When studying current movies for lessons applicable to future scripts, the temptation is to identify formulas—hit such-and-such plot point by page 10, make sure the narrative twists dramatically at the end of each act, etc. But sometimes it’s useful ...

The myriad parallels between the ups and downs of the Rocky franchise and the way the franchise’s two protagonists navigate athletic careers are fascinating. In the first six movies, spanning 1976 to 2006, simple but noble boxer Rocky Balboa (Sylvest...

In a life that spanned just 44 years, Mary Stuart (1542-1587), better known as “Mary, Queen of Scots,” changed the course of British history and left behind an example of empowered womanhood that continues to fascinate. She’s been the subject of book...