In Praise Of | Little White Lies

In Praise Of

A bearded man with piercing eyes wearing a denim jacket.
In Praise Of

Why Secrets & Lies remains a masterclass in framing

by James Morton

Direc­tor Mike Leigh empha­sis­es the lack of con­nec­tion between the char­ac­ters, and British soci­ety as a whole.
A black and white photograph of a woman with long, wavy hair looking to the side with a pensive expression, wearing a collared jacket.
In Praise Of

Why I love Ellen Burstyn’s performance in The Last Picture Show

by Rafa Sales Ross

She inhab­its the role of the frus­trat­ed house­wife in Peter Bogdanovich’s 1971 dra­ma with appar­ent effortlessness.
Four people, two men and two women, stand in a dimly lit scene. The group appears to be from a film or TV show, with the characters dressed in dark colours and posed in an atmospheric setting.
In Praise Of

In defence of Halloween: Resurrection

by Oumar Saleh

In break­ing from fran­chise tra­di­tion, this maligned 2002 slash­er fore­shad­owed the rise of live stream­ing and viral fame.
Two young men standing in a wooded area, one wearing a checked shirt and the other a denim jacket.
In Praise Of

Nothing Gold Can Stay – In praise of Francis Ford Coppola’s The Outsiders

by James Clarke

This teenage dra­ma from 1983 is the pin­na­cle of the director’s career-long obses­sion with the pas­sage of time.
Crowd of men in suits and hats on a city street, with a man in the foreground wearing a hat and coat.
In Praise Of

How The French Connection reinvented the Hollywood cop movie

by Jarek Kupść

Gene Hack­man mani­a­cal­ly nav­i­gates New York’s crime world in William Friedkin’s endur­ing procedural.
Two people relaxing on a yacht, with a scenic view of the ocean in the background.
In Praise Of

Why Timothy Dalton is the best James Bond actor

by Mark Allison

In The Liv­ing Day­lights and Licence to Kill, Dal­ton cre­at­ed the tem­plate for Daniel Craig’s hard-edged 21st cen­tu­ry Bond.
Two men in formal attire - one in a beige shirt and red tie, the other in a black suit - engaged in an intense conversation.
In Praise Of

Why excessive swearing is essential to Martin Scorsese’s The Departed

by Susannah Goldsbrough

Foul lan­guage and filthy humour char­ac­terise the cru­el, cyn­i­cal world of this hard­boiled Boston-set crime-drama.
Three soldiers in green military uniforms engaged in combat in a wooded area.
In Praise Of

40 years on, Southern Comfort remains a punishing study of male violence

by Johnny Restall

Released in 1981, Wal­ter Hill’s back­wa­ter thriller is at once a cel­e­bra­tion and a cri­tique of mas­culin­i­ty in crisis.
Crowd of people holding umbrellas, with a woman in the centre wearing sunglasses and a bright pink umbrella.
In Praise Of

Hedwig and the Angry Inch remains a testament to self-acceptance

by Gina Tonic

John Cameron Mitchell’s cult 2001 musi­cal dra­ma is a poignant reminder of the pow­er of being yourself.
Two individuals, a man and a woman, sitting in a car at night.
In Praise Of

20 years on, Lan Yu remains the pinnacle of Chinese queer cinema

by Weiting Liu

Though nev­er released in main­land chi­na Stan­ley Kwan’s cult 2001 melo­dra­ma ful­ly deserves its cult status.