Of all the major awards contenders I have seen so far, this is easily one of the most assured and memorable. Lady Bird is being hailed as Greta Gerwig’s debut as director (she wrote the film too), but that feels ...

At the end of last week, I reviewed Marvel’s latest movie Black Panther. The film has, quite rightly, received a lot of attention for its focus on black African characters. Speaking as a white guy, it is all too easy ...

Just occasionally, a director is able to grow their reputation enough to pitch a weird film for a major release. Master of pulpy macabre Guillermo del Toro has done this superbly with The Shape of Water, a delightful romance between ...

Black Panther is the newest big release from Marvel. Since debuting in Captain America: Civil War, Marvel have been steadily positioning Black Panther as an integral part of the superhero landscape in the run up to their extravagant spectacle Avengers: ...

Back when I first joined Pop-Verse, reviewing the first Fifty Shades film was an early assignment of mine. In fact, it was criteria for me to join the site. Megan, the editor-in-chief, sat atop her throne composed of the skulls ...

Our next big awards contender is Phantom Thread. The big clues to the awards aspirations here are Paul Thomas Anderson writing and directing, and Daniel Day Lewis starring in the main role. Both their names carry a lot of critical ...

I am an established fan of Alexander Payne. His films usually deal with strong concepts. You engage with them through strong and funny character-driven stories. He also has an interest in middle America and people stuck in their tracks. There’s ...

Our delving into awards-bait continues. There are particular features in a film that uniformly appeal to academy voters. Does the film tackle a timely issue? Is there a lot of shameless ethical grandstanding? Was it directed by Steven Spielberg? Does ...

Fullmetal Alchemist is now on Netflix. About time. The 2003 anime is one of my favourite series. The lack of availability has been a source of frustration as it is unreasonably hard to find a legal copy of the DVD-boxset ...

Ah, awards season. I know that stench anywhere. It is now the time of the year where the preliminary awards ceremonies are kicking off. These will firm up the frontrunners for the major ceremonies in February. Because the members of ...