Philip Bagnall

Articles

HeadStuff •

A Writer’s Pride Leads To Hoffman’s Height | Capote at 20 - HeadStuff

Capote is a black-and-white film, but it’s made in colour. Despite its late-1950s rural American setting, Capote has to be in colour when there’s such a colourful character at its core. In his time, Truman Capote (1924 – 1984) was as notable for his flamboyance as for his writing. He is best known now for his contributions to the New Journalism school of writing, and his masterpiece non-fiction novel In Cold Blood, but the personality that won him so much of his notoriety was both help and hindr...
Loud And Clear Reviews •

Cronenberg's Dance with Death in 'The Shrouds'

With the mesmerising The Shrouds, David Cronenberg explores death with openness and an awareness of his own identity and mortality.


The Shrouds is David Cronenberg’s 21st feature as director. Many of his previous 20 films have been hailed as masterworks because of his confidence in melding thematic weight with memorable grue. However, for all the morbid mayhem he has conjured, Cronenberg has scarcely probed the phenomenon of death itself. As we all age, we find ourselves confronted by our bel...
Loud And Clear Reviews •

Seeing the worst at his very best: Ed Wood at 30

Burton’s homage to his favourite filmmaker, Ed Wood, masks warmth, admiration and prescient life lessons in the guise of a standard biopic.


Edward D. Wood Jr. (1924 – 1978) is known to cinephiles as one of the worst directors to ever sit behind a camera. His repertoire of low-budget camp drama has earned him cult status among fans. The infamous likes of Plan 9 From Outer Space (1957) and Glen or Glenda (1953) are still watched with equal measures of derision and admiration to this day. Wood h...
HeadStuff •

An Elegant Crime | 25 years on, The Thomas Crown Affair shows how remakes should be done - HeadStuff

*This article contains spoilers for both the 1999 version of The Thomas Crown Affair and the 1968 original film.*
The idea of a remake of an older film usually invites eye rolls from audiences, and it really shouldn’t be this way. So many of them leave no impact, which entirely misses the point of making a remake in the first place. In an ideal world, a remake will recontextualize the original work, infusing it with changes to allow the material to breathe anew. This is why remakes of beloved c...
Next Best Picture •

From Indie Darlings To Box Office Titans - Lessons From The Blockbuster Frontier

It’s been over a year since the worldwide box office shook off the post-Covid 19 cobwebs with the one-two sucker punch of “Barbie” and “Oppenheimer.” The phenomenon that became known as “Barbenheimer” (All credit to NBP’s own Matt Neglia) was a once-in-a-lifetime filmgoing event. Two ensemble-piece blockbusters that appeared to be complete opposites in so many ways guided each other to eye-watering receipts and critical acclaim. The brighter and pinker of these two films was particularly success...
Loud And Clear Reviews •

Finding hope in Paul Thomas Anderson’s Magnolia

As Paul Thomas Anderson’s Magnolia turns 25, we explore how it continues to offer hope to its characters and its audience.

*This article contains spoilers for the entirety of Magnolia.*

“The past is never dead. It’s not even past”


When William Faulkner wrote “Requiem For a Nun,” he couldn’t have imagined how much the lines above would stick with the general populace. We are all products of the past, but we are also slaves to it, never able to escape. Paul Thomas Anderson’s magnum opus Magn
HeadStuff •

DIFF 2024 Preview | 10 Must-See Movies Coming to the Dublin International Film Festival

Since its inception in 2003, the Dublin International Film Festival (DIFF) has endeavoured to bring the best of international cinema to Irish audiences, and the 2024 slate is no exception. With films from some of the most exciting filmmakers around, this year’s selection offers plenty to ponder, revile, provoke and amaze.

This year’s festival takes place from 22nd February – 2nd March. Here are 10 films we recommend catching:

London-based Irish filmmakers Joe Lawlor and Christine Molloy return
The Film Cynic •

Always Crashing in The Same Car: 25 years of Cronenberg’s CRASH

On a hot, glistening day in May 1996 on the Côte d’Azur, a furore was unleashed in a torrent of engine coolant and raw sexual energy. Prompting boos, walkouts, and the alleged ire of no less than jury president Francis Ford Coppola, David Cronenberg’s Crash went on to receive a rare Special Jury Prize at Cannes “for originality, for daring and for audacity”. The jury’s decision seems prescient; 25 years on, Crash feels as original, daring and audacious as it must have done to those Cannes jury m
Scannain •

“It’s just a business”: The Cynicism of KILLING THEM SOFTLY

If you haven’t been living under a rock, you may have noticed that the 2016 U.S. Presidential Election comes surrounded by a thick cloud of cynicism. It’s not surprising; after all, the main parties have selected the most unpopular set of candidates imaginable (at least, statistically speaking). However, we tend to forget that any candidate can be met with distrust, even someone as idealistic and idealised as the outgoing president, Barack Obama. Killing Them Softly is a brutal, upfront puncturi

Walking in the Light: Illuminating religion in Paul Thomas Anderson’s THE MASTER

At one point in Paul Thomas Anderson’s adaptation of Thomas Pynchon’s Inherent Vice, Joaquin Phoenix’s drugged-up detective Doc Sportello enters a plush Malibu house, to be asked by his hostess, “Do you like the lighting?” (He responds with a semi-stoned, semi-horny, but quietly emphatic ‘Uh-huh.’). Anderson’s previous film, 2012’s The Master, is all about the lighting. In particular, it’s all about people looking for the light, being bathed in glows and beams, only to wind up darkened and despa
Scannain •

What’s the French for ‘binge-watch’?: Rivette’s OUT 1

So, would you watch a 13-hour film?

That’s the inevitable first question that crops up in any discussion of Jacques Rivette’s 1971 opus Out 1: Noli Me Tangere. But that run time is just one element of a glorious mystique that has built up around this masterwork. The release of a brand new Rivette Collection box set (by Kino Lorber in the U.S., and Arrow Video in the U.K.) with Noli Me Tangere (plus its shorter version, the 4-hour Out 1: Spectre) brings the film to the masses, and demystifies on
Scannain •

Starman: Thoughts on an Ordinary Icon

Death is a subjective experience. We go through it alone, and those that remain remember the deceased in their own selfish way. It’s a truth that becomes more clear when many mourn at once.

After the initial, sudden, oh-God-it-can’t-be-true shock of the passing of David Bowie this morning, I began to think about when I first became a fan. It’s a tricky thing to do because there are so many moments and reasons in Bowie’s career that could turn anyone into an aspiring aficionado. The many changes
Scannain •

No Longer In Control: revisiting Blackhat

On a first viewing Blackhat seems, for a Michael Mann movie, uncharacteristically uninterested in its characters. The film opens with a view of our planet defined by its international online connections rather than by borders. It glows bright blue with the voluminous links and transactions traversing our planet. The scope of this tale is laid down; the cops and criminals in Mann’s latest picture are working on a global scale. Considering the damage Mann’s damaged men can cause on a local level,
Scannain •

Calling the (Gun)Shots: The directorial visions of American Sniper and Selma

As the awards season rambles on, its controversies add flavour to the otherwise bland backslapping to which these things boil down. Two films in particular have been criticised for their portrayal of historical events. All publicity may be good publicity but, for American Sniper and Selma, their efforts are being given short shrift, particularly from outlets that should probably know better. The debates about historical accuracy and point of view detract from the work done by two talented direct