The Film Stage

Wolf Man Review: Leigh Whannell’s Effective Reboot Scares Up Hereditary Horrors
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“In early 1995, a hiker went missing in the remote mountains of central Oregon,” reads the prologue over a gorgeous opening shot: a still, wide frame looking down at a farm surrounded by dense forest and looming mountains, dark clouds...
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Emmanuelle Review: Audrey Diwan Subverts an Erotic Classic to Compelling, Alienating Effect
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The most striking thing about Audrey Diwan’s reinterpretation of Emmanuelle––the infamous novel-turned-softcore franchise from fabulously named director Just Jaeckin––is that the original dramatic beats largely remain intact. Perhaps this is why it received a critical drubbing at its San Sebastian...
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Jose Solís’ Top 10 Films of 2024
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Following The Film Stage’s collective top 50 films of 2024, as part of our year-end coverage, our contributors are sharing their personal top 10 lists. By the time this list is published, I will be an official inhabitant of Lyon, France, the...
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Peter Weir’s Landmark of Australian Cinema Is Salvaged In Trailer for Picnic at Hanging Rock‘s 4K Release
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Much of Australian cinema lives in the shadow of Peter Weir, and perhaps nothing of his own looms larger than Picnic at Hanging Rock. I’m sure the film is quite beautiful, but––having only seen it on a less-than-ideal DVD––its power...
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The Brutalist Composer Daniel Blumberg on the Ambitious, Intensive Process of Scoring Brady Corbet’s Epic
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With only two features under his belt, British musician Daniel Blumberg has already cemented his name in film history. After debuting scoring abilities on 2020’s The World to Come, the composer extraordinaire is back four years later with a monumental...
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Luke Hicks’ Top 10 Films of 2024
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Following The Film Stage’s collective top 50 films of 2024, as part of our year-end coverage, our contributors are sharing their personal top 10 lists. In a cinematic year as rich and ripe for discovery as any of the most illustrious years...
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Long-Rare Films from John Woo, Johnnie To, Tsui Hark & More Acquired By Shout! Studios
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What is quite obviously the best film news of 2025 thus far (and will be tough to beat in the foreseeable future) comes via Variety, who tell us Shout! Studios have acquired worldwide rights (minus certain Asian territories) to 156...
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Listen to Bertrand Bonello’s Soundtrack for Planet B
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While we’ve still not learned what Bertrand Bonello’s “completely different” follow-up to The Beast might be, it’s safe to say a verdant 2024 put his stock at a record high. In the meantime he’s made the rare venture into scoring...
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Soham Gadre’s Top 10 Films of 2024
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Following The Film Stage’s collective top 50 films of 2024, as part of our year-end coverage, our contributors are sharing their personal top 10 lists. Last year I used this space to speak about the ongoing genocide occurring in Gaza and this...
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Mike Leigh on Hard Truths, Losing Dick Pope, and the Duty of an Artist
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The British cinema––indeed an entire strand of understanding around modern drama––does not exist without Mike Leigh. When it was learned some years ago that Leigh was struggling to obtain financing for a new film, the outrage among cineastes was commensurate...
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