Realistic science fiction films, as a general rule, don’t age as well as fantastical space operas. When you set your film “fifteen minutes into the future” it’s hard for that to stay relevant when that becomes the past. Those that manage it…

Nowadays, with Marvel’s cinematic juggernauts regularly blowing up the box office several times a year, it’s easy to forget that there was a time when “superhero movie” meant either kiddie fare or B-movie schlock. One series that elevated…

There’s a joke I made about writing this article: “how do I make a film about people isolated together and one of them going mad topical today?” I thought about that joke while I was watching The Shining’s opening, with its amazing…

I still remember when I saw the trailer for Sky Captain and the World of Tomorrow. I couldn’t tell you what film I was in the cinema to see, but I vividly recall watching a sepia-tinged airship crawl across the sky before New York City was…

When you look at the witch-trial fever that swept over Europe in the 17th century, it’s noticeable how it largely left Ireland untouched. This wasn’t really because of greater tolerance on the part of the Irish people, but rather reflects…

War creates monsters, and not all monsters go away when the war does. Some still fight for their lost cause, some fight for their own survival, and some fight because they’ve discovered they love nothing more than killing. This was the case…

Modern western education has a lot of biases built into it, including a basic assumption that democracy is the most natural form of government. This fails to properly teach people how fragile democracy as a system can be, and how dependent…

There are always those who see opportunity in the chaos of revolution, a chance for personal glory and historical immortality. Sometimes these men succeed, and are remembered as great heroes. Sometimes they succeed and are remembered as…

When Louis Aragon died, the New York Times obituary ended with the line: “Even those who disagreed with his politics admired his talents as a poet and as a novelist.” Separating an artist from their beliefs is difficult at best and woefully…

There’s a cynical modern saying: “Steal a hundred pounds, go to jail. Steal a hundred grand, get a book deal.” This is far from a modern phenomenon. Throughout history those who commit audacious crimes have sometimes been rewarded rather…