A text entry in a pseudo-biographical dictionary assigns the name ‘Nirmata’ to the architect of an advanced AI technology that has changed the world forever. This elusive figure, the titular ‘Creator’ who gives Gareth Edwards’ epic sci-fi feature its title, has acquired a semi-divine status from the mechanical beings that he has engendered and the…
First published by Little White Lies as part of a series on the best blockbusters of the 21st Century In Chris Nolan’s deadly serious Caped Crusader reboot Batman Begins (2005), Batman may ultimately defeat the League of Shadows and their campaign of (chemically-induced) panic waged against a Gotham clawing its way out of corruption, but…
First published by Movie Gazette Since his first appearance in 1939, ‘The Bat-Man’, masked vigilante over the streets of Gotham City, has proved to be an enduring favourite of the comic book superheroes, due to his darkness, his mortality and, most importantly of all, the adaptability of his myth to changing times. On the big…
First published by Real Crime As text explains at the beginning of Denis Villeneuve’s latest film, the word ‘sicario’ is now used in Mexico to denote a ‘hitman’, but comes originally from the zealots of Jerusalem, murderously opposed to the “Romans who invaded their homeland.” Accordingly, Sicario opens with a different homeland under invasion, as…
I spoke with director Rick Rowley about his feature documentary Dirty Wars for a piece in Grolsch FilmWorks; for those interested, here is a much longer version of the interview. With Dirty Wars set to expose the ugly, hidden side of America’s ever-expanding War on Terror, Grolsch FilmWorks caught up with its director Rick Rowley,…
Review first appeared in Sight & Sound, October 2011 Review: While Simon Rumley’s first three low-budget features Strong Language (2000), The Truth Game (2001) and Club Le Monde (2002) were dialogue-driven comedy dramas that earned comparisons to Eric Rohmer and Richard Linklater from the press, his fourth film marked a radical stylistic departure for the…
Review first appeared in Sight & Sound, November 2011 Synopsis: In July of 2002, 15-year-old Canadian citizen Omar Khadr was captured in a US raid in Afghanistan, and accused of killing an American soldier. Severely injured, Khadr was interrogated and tortured at Bagram Air Base, before being transferred in October 2002 to Guantánamo Bay, where…