Few subjects divide the global population quite as much as a sport (speaking in general terms) – despite its widespread popularity and importance within every conceivable culture, there’s often a division between those who find value in sport (whether playing it or observing it being played), and those who find it nothing more than a…

At some point, we have all experienced that magical moment when we see someone and instantly find ourselves smitten. There’s nothing quite like love at first sight, to the point where entire artistic careers have been built on the pursuit of some understanding of this elusive concept that is somehow both universal and impossible to…

There was a movement in the early part of the 20th century, where people from all around the world descended on Paris, which they saw as the epicentre for creativity and artistic expression, more than any other city on earth – New York City was too harsh, Los Angeles a cesspool of crime and debauchery,…

As far as the canon of great romantic comedies goes, you will struggle to find any more iconic than My Best Friend’s Wedding, which has come to be viewed as one of the most effective entries into a genre that has become somewhat oversaturated to the point where it has lost the spark that made…

Love – how does one even begin to describe it as a concept? It’s difficult enough already to fully encapsulate the feeling, so to even attempt to understand its resonance as an artistic theme is nearly impossible. It is one of the great mysteries of life and something that has been the subject of so…

Defining love is a perilous activity since there is never any clear indication of what it means entirely, or how you can find it without utilizing forcible means. This seemed to be a concept that fascinated Silvio Soldini, whose wonderful Garibaldi’s Lovers (Italian: Il comandante e la cicogna), which is also alternatively known by the…

Do we eat to live, or live to eat? For once, this adage isn’t be used to scorn those of us who enjoy an extra helping at the tail-end of our meals, but rather as an entry-point into a discussion on The Taste of Things (French: La Passion de Dodin Bouffant), in which director Trần…

By the time cameras started rolling on That Touch of Mink, Hollywood had figured out the perfect formula for the romantic comedy genre – take a relatively simple story (the more modern the better, but caution should be taken when it comes to references, since nothing ages more poorly than being overly tied to a…

We have always been preoccupied with the concept of time – whether it is in the form of reflecting on the past and wishing we could go back in time, or pondering the future by trying to predict what the next stage of our lives will bring. It almost seems as if we are never…

Billy Wilder’s approach to cinema was nothing short of exhilarating, with the stories he told and their vibrant execution being highlights of the period in which he was active, which mercifully stretches nearly half a century. Even when doing something decisively minor in terms of tone or storyline, he always found ways to make his…