film criticism Archives - Book and Film Globe

‘Rocky’ at 50: ‘Going The Distance’ Chronicles the Making of a Classic Movie

November 10, 2026November 9, 2026 Jon Hart 0 Comments 1970s cinema, 1976 films, Academy Awards, Adrian Balboa, Apollo Creed, Bette Midler, Bill Conti, book reviews, boxing history, boxing movies, Burt Young, Carl Weathers, Chuck Wepner, classic Hollywood, Clay Felker, film books, film criticism, film production, Going the Distance, Going the Distance: Stallone Philly and the Story of Rocky, hollywood history, I Play Rocky, independent filmmaking, inspirational movies, Irwin Winkler, Jimmy Gambina, John G. Avildsen, Ken Norton, Los Angeles Sports Arena, low-budget movies, making of Rocky, Mike Sielski, movie nostalgia, Muhammad Ali, nonfiction books, Olympic Auditorium, Oscar-winning movies, Paradise Alley, Philadelphia, Philadelphia cinema, Ray Bradbury, Robert Chartoff, Rocky, Rocky 50th anniversary, Rocky Balboa, Rocky behind the scenes, Rocky film history, Rocky movie, Rocky Steps, Santa Monica, sports biography, sports cinema, sports movies, Sylvester Stallone, Talia Shire, The Lords of Flatbush, The Spectrum, The Steps: A Memoir, underdog stories, United Artists

Philadelphia’s own Mike Sielski goes deep into the roots of Sylvester Stallone’s low-budget masterpiece

‘Coyote Vs. ACME’ Vs. ‘Digger’

November 8, 2026 J. Barnes 0 Comments A Midsummer Night's Dream, ACME Corporation, Alejandro González Iñárritu, animal testing, animated comedy, Aristophanes, Buddy Crane, capitalism, cartoon comedy, Charles Koch, climate change, climate change denial, comedy film criticism, comedy movies, contemporary cinema, corporate accountability, corporate corruption, corporate ethics, corporate greed, corporate lobbying, corporate satire, Coyote Vs. Acme, Coyote Vs. ACME review, Daffy Duck, dark comedy, Digger, Digger movie review, environmental activism, environmental destruction, environmental politics, environmental satire, film criticism, film morality, Foghorn Leghorn, fossil fuels, government regulation, Hollywood blockbusters, Lee Raymond, live-action animation, Looney Tunes, Marx Brothers, Michael Wirth, movie comparisons, movie reviews, oil industry, Peter Lorre, political corruption, political filmmaking, political satire, Road Runner, satire in cinema, scientific ethics, Shakespeare, slapstick comedy, The Clouds, The Merchant of Venice, The Wasps, Tom Cruise, unethical experimentation, Warner Bros., whistleblowers, Wile E. Coyote

What makes a film about corporate greed and its repercussions succeed, or fail?

Featured Stories FILM

‘Wild Horse Nine’ Is Full of Hysterical but Horrible Remorse

November 6, 2026November 11, 2026 Stephen Garrett 0 Comments 1970s period films, 1973 Chilean coup, absurdist humor, American foreign policy, Augusto Pinochet, Bay of Pigs, betrayal, black comedy, character driven drama, Chile, CIA, CIA history, Cold War, Cold War espionage, Congo, covert operations, Cuba, dark comedy, Easter Island, espionage films, existential comedy, film criticism, Friendship, gallows humor, government corruption, Guatemala, guilt and regret, historical fiction, In Bruges, Indonesia, intelligence agencies, John F. Kennedy assassination, John Malkovich, loyalty, Martin McDonagh, Martin McDonagh films, melancholic comedy, mercy killing, misanthropy, Moai statues, moral ambiguity, moral responsibility, mortality, movie reviews, Parker Posey, Patrice Lumumba, political assassinations, political satire, political thriller, Rapa Nui, redemption, Salvador Allende, Sam Rockwell, Santiago, spy movies, Steve Buscemi, terminal illness, The Banshees of Inisherin, Three Billboards Outside Ebbing Missouri, Tom Waits, US interventionism, Wild Horse Nine, Wild Horse Nine review

John Malkovich and Sam Rockwell take Martin McDonagh’s jaded Cold War warriors and turn them into Big Heads on Easter Island

BOOKS CLASSICS FILM

What Was Alfred Hitchcock’s Secret?

November 6, 2026November 8, 2026 William Schwartz 0 Comments Academy Awards, acting and performance, Alfred Hitchcock, Alfred Hitchcock biography, Alfred Hitchcock movies, auteur cinema, auteur theory, book reviews, Cary Grant, casting directors, cinema history, cinematic suspense, classic cinema, classic Hollywood, Family Plot, Film Adaptations, film analysis, film books, film casting, film criticism, film history, film studies, filmmaking techniques, Francois Truffaut, Golden Age of Hollywood, Hitchcock and Truffaut, Hitchcock casting, Hitchcock films, Hitchcock Truffaut interviews, Hollywood casting, hollywood history, Hollywood stardom, James Stewart, Jimmy Stewart, Joan Fontaine, movie stars, Nat Segaloff, nonfiction books, North By Northwest, psychological thrillers, Rope, screen charisma, star power, suspense films, Suspicion, The Man Who Knew Too Much, The Secret Hitchcock, The Short Night, thriller movies, university press of kentucky, Vertigo, World War II

New book argues that the famed director’s casting is given short shrift

BFG Podcast #317: You Can Hear Everything

November 2, 2026November 2, 2026 Book and Film Globe Staff 0 Comments Amanda Seyfried, Behemoth!, BFG Podcast, Book and Film Globe podcast, contemporary cinema, culture podcast, documentary ethics, documentary film, Elizabeth Holmes, entertainment podcast, film criticism, film festivals, film podcast, fraud, independent film, international cinema, Kenji Fujishima, Mike Leigh, movie reviews, Nathan Fielder, Neal Pollack, New York cinema, New York Film Festival, NYFF, Silicon Valley, Stephen Garrett, Theranos, Tony Gilroy, true crime documentary, You Can See Everything

Neal, Kenji, and Stephen chat about New York Film Festival, Nathan Fielder, Amanda Seyfried, Mike Leigh, and more

‘Wicker’ Provides a Rom-Com Interlaced With Substance

November 1, 2026 Stephen Garrett 0 Comments absurdist comedy, Alex Huston Fischer, Alexander Skarsgard, body autonomy, Brothers Grimm, class and society, dark comedy, Eleanor Wilson, Elizabeth Debicki, erotic comedy, fairy tale adaptations, fairy tales, fantasy comedy, fantasy film, female sexuality, feminist cinema, feminist comedy, feminist fable, film adaptation, film criticism, folk fantasy, folk horror, folklore, gallows humor, gender roles, gossip, independent cinema, jealousy, love and devotion, magical craftsmanship, magical realism, marriage, medieval fantasy, movie reviews, Olivia Colman, ostracism, outsiders, patriarchal society, patriarchy, Peter Dinklage, Richard E. Grant, romantic comedy, romantic fantasy, satire, sexual desire, sexual repression, small-town prejudice, social conformity, social satire, The Wicker Husband, unconventional romance, Ursula Wills, Wicker, Wicker film review, wicker man, Wicker movie

Olivia Colman and Alexander Skarsgård tentpole this offbeat drama from Alex Huston Fischer and Eleanor Wilson

Netflix Streaming TELEVISION

Netflix and the Lost Churros

October 30, 2026October 29, 2026 Dr. Carlos Flores 0 Comments Academy Awards, Animals, audience engagement, Bela Bajaria, Below, Ben Affleck, Black Mirror: Bandersnatch, Bridgerton, content strategy, corporate entertainment, creative quality, crime thrillers, Dark, Elon Musk, Emmys, entertainment industry, film criticism, giant squid, Gillian Anderson, Golden Globes, Hollywood, Joe Rogan, Joe Rogan Experience, Josh Hartnett, Kerry Washington, La Casa De Papel, Luis Elizondo, Lupin, maritime horror, Mindhunter, monster movies, movie reviews, Netflix, Netflix advertising, Netflix and the Lost Churros, Netflix layoffs, Netflix leadership, Netflix miniseries, Netflix movies, Netflix originals, Netflix stock, Nielsen ratings, original programming, Peter Rice, Robert De Niro, science fiction horror, Squid Game, Stranger Things, streaming competition, streaming economics, streaming industry, streaming reviews, streaming services, streaming wars, Television Criticism, television viewership, The OA, The Whisper Man, UFOs, Wednesday, YouTube

What ‘Animals’ and ‘Below’ tell us about the streaming giant

DOCUMENTARY FILM

A Concrete Example of a Documentary Masterpiece

October 27, 2026October 26, 2026 J. Barnes 0 Comments absurdist comedy, affordable housing, architecture, BQE, Brooklyn-Queens Expressway, Buddhist philosophy, City of Yes, comedy documentary, concrete, constructive trauma, documentary film, documentary review, Dorothy Chin Brandt, entropy, Eric Adams, existentialism, experimental documentary, film criticism, grief, Hallmark movies, HBO, How To With John Wilson, impermanence, Jack Macco, John Wilson, Kathy Hochul, mortality, movie reviews, New York City, New York City politics, observational filmmaking, Pantheon, philosophical comedy, Ridgewood Queens, Roman architecture, Rubin Museum of Himalayan Art, sand mandalas, The History of Concrete, urban decay, urban infrastructure, zoning reform

John Wilson’s ‘History of Concrete’ is so much more than its boring title suggests

‘Funny Business,’ Sad comedy scene

October 26, 2026 Jake Harris 0 Comments 2000s comedy movies, 2010s comedy movies, Adam McKay, Anchorman, Animal House, Ben Stiller, Bobby Farrelly, Book Review, comedy box office, comedy history, Farrelly brothers, film criticism, Frat Pack, Funny Business, Funny Business book, G.P. Putnam's Sons, Hollywood comedy, hollywood history, improvisational comedy, Judd Apatow, Knocked Up, Matt Singer, National Lampoon, Netflix, nonfiction book review, Opposable Thumbs, Owen Wilson, Paul Feig, Peter Farrelly, R-rated comedies, raunchy comedy, Saturday Night Live, Scary Movie, ScreenCrush, Seth Rogen, Siskel and Ebert, Steve Carell, streaming entertainment, studio comedies, Talladega Nights, The 40-Year-Old Virgin, The Ben Stiller Show, The Hangover, The Invite, The Studio, theatrical comedy, There's Something About Mary, This Is the End, Todd Phillips, Vince Vaughn, Wedding Crashers, Will Ferrell

Matt Singer’s new book will make you reconsider 2000s R-rated comedies

Featured Stories FILM

Paweł Pawlikowski Drives Us Through a Decimated ‘Fatherland’

October 24, 2026October 28, 2026 Stephen Garrett 0 Comments arthouse cinema, August Diehl, Bayreuth Festival, black and white cinematography, Cold War, cultural memory, denazification, East Germany, Erika Mann, European cinema, exile, family relationships, father-daughter relationships, Fatherland, film criticism, Frankfurt, German cinema, German history, German literature, grief, Hanns Zischler, Historical drama, international cinema, Johann Wolfgang von Goethe, Klaus Mann, mourning, movie reviews, National identity, nationalism, Nazi Germany, Paweł Pawlikowski, political drama, postwar Germany, Richard Wagner, Sandra Hüller, Thomas Mann, W.H. Auden, Weimar, West Germany, World War II

Postwar Germany views itself through the monochromatic portrait of the Mann family

DOCUMENTARY Featured Stories FILM

You Can See Everything, Except the Truth

October 18, 2026October 22, 2026 Stephen Garrett 0 Comments Abbott and Costello, AI, artificial intelligence, authenticity, Billy Evans, corporate fraud, deepfakes, documentary ethics, documentary film, documentary review, Edison blood-testing device, Elizabeth Holmes, Enron, Errol Morris, experimental documentary, film criticism, Frederick Wiseman, investigative documentary, Lance Oppenheim, media manipulation, mockumentary, movie reviews, Nathan Fielder, Nathan For You, reality and illusion, Silicon Valley, tech startups, The Rehearsal, Theranos, Theranos scandal, true crime documentary, truth and deception, Werner Herzog, white collar crime, Who's on First, You Can See Everything

Feel free to mix Nathan Fielder, Lance Oppenheim, Elizabeth Holmes and Billy Evans but that’s no recipe for non-fiction

Two Highlights From the New York Film Festival Main Slate

October 16, 2026October 15, 2026 Kenji Fujishima 0 Comments 8 1 2, Adam Driver, Aftersun, Alice Bailey Johnson, All of a Sudden, Andor, art and empathy, arthouse cinema, Birgit Minichmayr, British cinema, Cannes Film Festival, capitalism, Carlos Reygadas, Charlotte Wells, dementia, Drive My Car, elder care, Emeric Pressburger, Everytime, experimental cinema, Federico Fellini, female friendship, Film at Lincoln Center, film criticism, film scores, French cinema, Gone to Earth, Gregory Oke, grief, Hard Truths, Heil Jupiter!, James Gray, Japanese cinema, JoBeth Williams, Kate OFlynn, Marion Bailey, Michael Clayton, Michael Powell, Mike Leigh, Miles Teller, mortality, movie reviews, New York Film Festival, New York Film Festival 2026, nursing homes, NYFF 2026, Paul Jesson, Pedro Pascal, Ryusuke Hamaguchi, social realism, social workers, surrealism, Tao Okamoto, Tender Loving Care, TIFF, Toronto International Film Festival, Virginie Efira, Widow's Bay

The probable last film from a British legend and the latest work from a Japanese master brightened this year’s edition of this festival of festivals.

Featured Stories FILM

Two Disappointments in the New York Film Festival Main Slate

October 15, 2026October 19, 2026 Kenji Fujishima 1 Comment 8 1 2, Adam Driver, Aftersun, Andor, arthouse cinema, Behemoth!, Birgit Minichmayr, Cannes Film Festival, Carlos Reygadas, Charlotte Wells, classical music, Emeric Pressburger, Eva Victor, Everytime, experimental cinema, Federico Fellini, Film at Lincoln Center, film criticism, film scores, Gone to Earth, Gregory Oke, grief, Heil Jupiter!, James Gray, JoBeth Williams, Michael Clayton, Michael Powell, Miles Teller, movie reviews, New York Film Festival, New York Film Festival 2026, NYFF 2026, Olivia Wilde, Paper Tiger, Pedro Pascal, Sandra Wollner, Scarlett Johansson, surrealism, TIFF, Tony Gilroy, Toronto International Film Festival, Will Arnett

Pre-festival hype and even stars like Pedro Pascal and Olivia Wilde don’t always satisfy

Featured Stories Podcasts

BFG Podcast #316: Boomer Hollywood Twilight

October 12, 2026October 31, 2026 Book and Film Globe Staff 0 Comments Aaron Sorkin, Alejandro González Iñárritu, Boomer Hollywood, Chris Hansen, cinema, Digger, Facebook, film criticism, Hollywood, Lance Oppenheim, Mikey Madison, movie podcast, Neal Pollack, Podcast, podcast episode, Primetime, Robert Pattinson, Stephen Garrett, Streaming, The Social Network, The Social Reckoning, To Catch a Predator, Tom Cruise

Neal and Stephen chat about Aaron Sorkin, Tom Cruise, Robert Pattinson and more

On Bond Day We Ask, Should James Bond Still Exist Today?

October 5, 2026October 4, 2026 Dr. Carlos Flores 1 Comment 007, action films, Amazon MGM Studios, Aston Martin, British cinema, Casino Royale, Cold War, Daniel Aaron, Daniel Craig, Dr. No, espionage, film criticism, From Russia with Love, Goldfinger, Ian Fleming, James Bond, James Bond Day, masculinity, Moonraker, movie history, Pop Culture, Sean Connery, spy films, The Spy Who Loved Me

Will we still love 007 now he’s 64?

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