Democracy manifest: Gary Cooper and the fall of Polish communism
Gary Cooper was a quiet man and an American icon. The strong, silent type, across more than 80 leading roles he typified an ideal that even today remains the very model of American heroism. His most powerful performance, however, took place in Poland โ and came not in a motion picture but a still image.
Anna Walentynowicz was just five months from retirement when she was fired. She had workedโฆ
Straight shooters?: gay westerns, hard rock and soft bois
As the idealistic 1960s gave way to the cynical 1970s, US cinema began serving up increasingly nihilistic and psychologically complex stories, all with sour endings to match. Bonnie and Clyde and Easy Rider foretold the death of the hippie dream. But the western had it in its sights too. Released in 1969, Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid, The Desperados, and The Wild Bunch all ended in calamity and bloodshed, allโฆ
Alien factors: the Asylum, Don Dohler and DIY charm
The chances of humans discovering alien life are about the same as the chances of an Asylum movie being any good: statistically possible but highly unlikely. The studio is known for giving its low-budget genre rip-offs titles similar to those of other recent or releases, in the hopes that people will watch them accidentally. Many of these names are cheeky (2024โs Road Wars: Max Fury). Many others are inspired (2016โsโฆ
Golden age: motherhood and misogyny in Hollywood
Itโs party time in this existential dramedy. Rose (Elizabeth Reaser), a middle-aged actor turned reluctant homemaker, is hosting a soirรฉe with her husband Sammy (Walton Goggins), an agent who hates his job but is lucky to have one. As guests arrive at their home in the Hollywood Hills, shared histories, secrets and rivalries threaten to sour the mood, especially when a smouldering Pedro Pascal as heartbreaker Lucien shows up.
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Good grief: โKoko-di Koko-daโ and the light at the end of the tunnel
As far as films about grief go, this darkly fantastical time-loop story is surely one of cinemaโs most unusual. Following a bereavement, on-the-skids couple Tobias and Elin go on a camping trip only to be captured and killed by a roving band of pitiless loons who look like a sinister circus troupe from a fairytale long gone sour. Tobias wakes up the next morning and swears itโฆ
