Teenager Ree Dolly lives in a run-down house in the rural Ozarks with her mentally ill mother and her two young siblings. Her absentee father is on bail after being arrested for manufacturing meth-amphetamine. When he skips that bail and … Continue reading “I’d be lost without the weight of you two on my back” | Winter’s Bone (2010)
This is it: my 25 favourite films of the past decade. #25: Get Out (2017, USA. d. Jordan Peele.) Jordan Peele made one hell of a directorial debut with Get Out, an effective and terrifying horror film with an awful lot … Continue reading The Favourites of the 2010s: #25-1
2018 was a pretty great year for feature films. I remember saying the same thing about 2017, and it’s true: it really seems to me that global cinema is going through something of a golden age. Personally I put much … Continue reading The Best Films of 2018
Debra Granik is one of the USA’s most essential filmmakers. She works slowly, directing just four films in the last 14 years, but every one has been both exceptional and unmissable. She is a superb social realist, grounding her films … Continue reading REVIEW: Leave No Trace (2018)
For ease of navigating FictionMachine, this page provides a handy alphabetical list of all films featured in the website’s essays. The Abyss (d. James Cameron, 1989.) The Adventures of Ichabod and Mr Toad (d. Jack Kinney, Clyde Geronomi and James Algar, 1949.) Agora (d. Alejandro Amenábar, 2009.) Alien3 (d. David Fincher, 1992.) Back to the Future (d. Robert Zemeckis, 1985.) Back to the Future Part II (d. Robert Zemeckis, 1989.) Back to the Future Part III (d. Robert Zemeckis, 1990.) Bedknobs and Broomsticks (d. Robert Stevenson, 1971.) The Birds (d. Alfred Hitchcock, 1963.) The Black Hole (d. Gary Nelson, 1979.) Black Swan (d. Darren Aronofsky, 2010.) The Blues Brothers (d. John Landis, … Continue reading Essays Index