Virginia Film Festival Review: Andrea Arnold’s ‘Bird’ Takes a Surprising Turn
When you are watching an Andrea Arnold film, you know. She does not have a formula, but she leaves her...
David Phillips has been a Senior Writer for The Contending from its inception on 8/26/2024. He is a writer for film and TV and creator of the Reframe series, devoted to looking at films from the past through a modern lens. Before coming to The Contending, David wrote for Awards Daily in the same capacity from August 2018 to August 2024. He has covered the Oscars in person (2024), as well as the Virginia Film Festival, and served as a juror for both the short and the full-length narrative film categories for the Heartland Film Festival(2024) He is a proud member of GALECA and the IFJA.
When you are watching an Andrea Arnold film, you know. She does not have a formula, but she leaves her...
The inspirational sports film trope is a well-traveled one. Veteran editor and first-time director William Goldenberg’s Unstoppable (the remarkable true...
Steve McQueen’s Blitz begins by bursting into flames. In the first scene, you are taken directly into London, 1940, as...
The relationship between a cinematographer and a director on television or film can be mercurial. On the great FX show...
Teri Garr’s peak as an actor started in 1974 with the combo of her hysterical supporting performance in Mel Brooks’...
In the world we live in, between theaters and streaming, there is so much “content” (god, I hate that word...
The story of a young high school-aged person falling into the wrong crowd and down a rabbit hole of drug...
The 33rd annual Heartland Film Festival, held in Indianapolis, IN, closed this weekend by naming the winners of its Audience...
Beginning with his 1988 breakthrough in Ron Shelton’s Bull Durham, Tim Robbins enjoyed a nearly two-decade hot streak in front...
It happens every year. There’s that great film that gets exceptional reviews, and everyone who sees it loves it, but...