It is easy, and often reductive, to say that a film does not work without one key actor or performer doing something specific to make the narrative function. Whether it is a part written for a particular person or a performance that elevates the material as a whole, casting can make or break the qua...

Cinematic Considerations For many cinephiles, Paul Thomas Anderson — the mind behind “Boogie Nights” and “The Master” as well as his masterpiece oil drama “There Will Be Blood” — was the greatest living filmmaker never to win an Academy Award. That all changed Sunday evening when PTA, as the veteran...

Originality in modern filmmaking is often talked about as if it’s disappearing, or worse yet, that a “singular vision” by a filmmaker other than a traditional auteur can be considered risk-taking to be kind in outright dismissal of a piece of avant-garde cinema. This was largely the reaction to Emer...

Cinematic Considerations Horror movies don’t typically find themselves as major awards-season contenders. But “Sinners” isn’t a typical horror film. C...

Abizarre yet true story is chronicled in director Gus Van Sant’s latest film, “Dead Man’s Wire,” which saw a limited festival run in 2025 before arriv...

Cinematic Considerations An adaptation of the Maggie O’Farrell novel of the same name, Director Chloé Zhao enters new territory with “Hamnet.” Her dra...