Anne Billson riffs on the art and business of film-making
12 January 2012
Why restyle Great Women of History as cockamamie feminist role models?
Anne Billson
Anne Billson: Did Bette Davis live and die in vain? I want Wallis Simpson in all her adulterous, Nazi-loving glory – even if it makes her a bitch
22 December 2011
Why does Mission: Impossible – Ghost Protocol bother with a third act?
Anne Billson
The three-act story seems natural. But so many blockbusters, like the new Mission Impossible, would be better off without part three
8 December 2011
Science fiction is creeping into more mainstream films
Anne Billson
Science fiction isn't all 'talking squids in space'. And its creep into mainstream cinema is everywhere from Never Let Me Go to Midnight in Paris | Anne Billson
24 November 2011
I know Twilight is awful, but …
Anne Billson
Twilight caters to the sexual fantasies of teenage girls. I'm not saying in a good way, but there's not much else at the cinema that does, writes Anne Billson
10 November 2011
Ghost movies – like The Awakening – are best when they give up the ghost
Anne Billson
Forget all the collapsing staircases, revolving rooms, daft CGI and haunted hair-dos. You barely need to show anything to make a truly petrifying ghost movie
27 October 2011
I do love a game of Spot the Famous Painting in films
Anne Billson
The Da Vinci Code, of course, is full of Leonardo, but I prefer my Last Supper posed by beggars, as in Viridiana
13 October 2011
Swords on screen: loving a swash well buckled
Anne Billson
I'd like to see action films regress to an epoch when swords were as prevalent as guns, or hop forward to a time when firearms don't work, writes Anne Billson
29 September 2011
Melancholia's sly twist on the flashback film
Anne Billson
Anne Billson: By warning us in advance that Bruce Willis or Tom Cruise isn't going to save the day, Lars Von Trier's Melancholia joins the fine tradition of films that preview their own coming attractions
15 September 2011
Take it or leave it: the long shot
Anne Billson
Long takes make the viewer an active participant rather than a passive sponge, encouraged to scour the frame, or worry about what might enter into it, writes Anne Billson
1 September 2011
Why hitwomen must be fitwomen
Anne Billson
If a female contract killer isn't prepared to smuggle herself into the villain's lair disguised as a scantily clad hooker, the movie world isn't interested
18 August 2011
Anne Hathaway shouldn't be the sex object in One Day
Anne Billson
Someone (but not Anne Hathaway) needs to stick up for the girl geek, a social group so under-represented in movies it's almost extinct
4 August 2011
I swear movie anachronisms are on the mega-increase
Anne Billson
Anne Billson: I'm no purist, but it really takes me out of a film to hear the Narnia kids saying 'Sorted!' or Alice in Wonderland using terms like 'bonkers'
21 July 2011
Stolen identities in film show us our true selves
Anne Billson
Anne Billson: Adopting another's identity is seen as a melodramatic trick of the movies, like the evil twin in soap operas – but aren't we all imposture experts?
7 July 2011
Why films either 'suck' or they're 'cool'
Anne Billson
Star ratings may be massively popular, but since when did liking or not liking become the standard by which a film should be judged, asks Anne Billson
23 June 2011
Cutter's Way and the great tradition of the film eyepatch
Anne Billson
An eyepatch indicates the wearer has been in the wars or had his eye pecked out by a hawk like axe-hurling Kirk Douglas in The Vikings
9 June 2011
Call this a comedy? I call it horror
Anne Billson
The Beaver isn't the only movie that should have taken the horror route – so many comedies are just a sliver away from being terrifying psycho thrillers
26 May 2011
How film's one-liners lost their innocence with Apocalypse Now
Anne Billson
A well-turned phrase can go a long way towards cementing a movie's cult status, but Apocalypse Now marks the point at which film quotes became self-conscious
12 May 2011
Horror movies I can deal with, but sentimental ones can reduce me to jelly
Anne Billson
Anne Billson: Horror movies no longer make me feel queasy, but sentimental ones can reduce me to jelly
28 April 2011
Scream 4's greatest success? A short haircut without baggage
Anne Billson
Anne Billson: Short hair on female characters is usually a humiliating punishment – and a small step to alien, monster or homicidal maniac
14 April 2011
Fomo (Fear of Missing Out) applies to culture, too
Anne Billson
Anne Billson: We're like demented twitchers, ticking off movie titles – but how many of these films do we actually need to see?
