Cinephobia

Cinephobia is no More

Fri, 19 Nov 2010 01:10:12 GMT

My new website is now up at http://www.sterow.com. Read about in more detail at http://feeds.feedburner.com/sterow. Thanks for your support. Things should only be bigger and better at the new site.

What Now for Cinephobia

Sat, 11 Sep 2010 06:40:12 GMT

What Happens Now? <a href="http://www.cinephobia.com/whatnow.html">Click through.</a>

Review: Tomorrow, When the War Began

Fri, 10 Sep 2010 07:31:21 GMT

"If this were a film about an army of impoverished Mexicans invading Arizona we’d recognise it as a paranoid right-wing fantasy; and in its essentials this isn’t any different." Click through for full item.

Review: Alice in Wonderland

Fri, 12 Mar 2010 22:31:32 GMT

"Turning the “Vorpal Sword” into Excalibur misses the point; much more seriously, though, it takes the fun out. If any story shouldn’t be about plot mechanics and character growth and mystical quests, it’s Alice in Wonderland." Click through for full item.

Retrospective: It's a Wonderful Life

Tue, 02 Mar 2010 10:10:21 GMT

"It’s a Wonderful Life catches that mixed mood, and uses the battle of wills between George and Potter to address the challenges before the United States as it emerged from the war: would all get to share in the new era of prosperity (as George wants) or would only a few get to profit (as Potter would have it)? Does the embrace of that postwar prosperity and freedom mean a descent into noir decadence, as in the Pottersville sequence, or can people like George put family and community (re)building first, leading to the genteel, family oriented suburban future hinted at in the Bailey park sequences?" (Click through for full item).

Review: Avatar

Sat, 26 Dec 2009 23:15:54 GMT

"Cameron hasn’t solved any of the problems of 3D (how could he?) so the shitty colours, focus problems, awkward separation of different planes and general distractingness of 3D remain. The empiricist in me can’t argue with the raves from others about how immersive they find 3D, but I remain frankly completely bewildered. In particular, I find it odd that in an age where many so-called cinema enthusiasts are actually home theatre enthusiasts, people would enthusiastically embrace a technology that so aggressively degrades image quality." (Click through for full item).

The Best Year for Animation Ever?

Tue, 22 Dec 2009 07:44:53 GMT

"Stuart Wilson of hoopla asked my view on the suggestion that this the best year ever for animated films. The short answer is 'no, that's silly.' " (Click through for full item).

Review: 2012

Mon, 30 Nov 2009 11:15:26 GMT

"Inflation of scale is coupled with deflation of ambition: Emmerich’s career has been a prolonged exercise in lowering our expectations so that we accept what he dishes up without question. It works to a point." Click through for full item.

All A-Twitter

Sun, 08 Nov 2009 11:09:23 GMT

"When audiences expect sites to update with new content at least daily, that's a huge demand on the author; 140 characters allows for the faster turnover without the chore factor. Twitter is basically reducing our expectations of on-line content so that it better aligns with expectations about how fast sites should update." (Click through for full item).