Zach Snyder and the Separation of Art and Artist

by Ben Miller

Many outlets are reporting the news that director Zack Snyder is stepping down from directing the upcoming Justice League in order to be with his family following the suicide of his daughter, Autumn, in March. This news has unfortunately prompted some insensitive reactions online. This brings to light an interesting separation between the artist and the art they create.

Snyder has his fair amount of detractors.  I was impressed by his debut with Dawn of the Dead and got caught up in the zeitgeist that was 300.  But, I have been less than thrilled with his contributions to the superhero genre in Watchmen, Man of Steel and Batman v. Superman: Dawn of Justice.

This has birthed a persona of the man – Zack Snyder, director.  His personal life and character has been shielded by a believed persona of what we feel this man is like, just because of the films he makes.  We assume that the CGI heavy and slow-motion leaning visual style says more about the man than anything else...

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The Movie That Twitter Made Happen

Chris here. Remember a few weeks back when this tweet referencing Rihanna and Lupita Nyong'o made the rounds and gave us all a good delighted gasp?:

Rihanna looks like she scams rich white men and lupita is the computer smart best friend that helps plan the scans https://t.co/PhWs1xd3nj

— WHOOPHERASSKOURTNI (@1800SADGAL) April 18, 2017

The fun continued as Lupita and Rihanna chimed in with their enthusiasm, bringing along multi-hyphenate talents Ava DuVernay and Insecure’s Issa Rae. Well, it wasn't just playful chatter between celebs over Twitter - this project just became real...

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Doc Corner: Awards Hopefuls 'Abacus' and 'Last Men in Aleppo'

by Glenn Dunks

First off, apologies for the sporadic columns over the last two months. My day job for this time period has been behind the scenes of a film festival and there’s something about working 14 hours a day that just makes coming home and doing more writing somewhat less alluring? As a soft apology, here is a look at two films. They have next to nothing in common other than that we may see their names pop up here or there come award season.

The first is Steve James’ Abacus: Small Enough to Jail, a film about an institution – the Abacus Federal Savings Bank of Chinatown, not even one of the top 2000 banks in the country if I saw the stats correctly – that became the only American bank to be criminally indicted in the wake of the financial sector crisis of 2008. The modesty of its subjects, both corporate and human, clearly rubbed off on James who has crafted a standardly assembled yet no less enthralling documentary about what is now a particularly peculiar footnote in the history of American law...

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Sir Roger Moore (1927-2017)

By Deborah Lipp

Sir Roger Moore has passed away at the age of 89. Known first for the television show The Saint, he achieved world renown as James Bond, playing the role officially more than any other actor. (Moore and Sean Connery each made seven Bond films, but one of Connery’s, Never Say Never Again, is not part of the official franchise.) 

When Roger Moore arrived in Phuket, Thailand to film The Man With the Golden Gun, it was not a resort. The city was thrilled to have a film crew working there, and pulled out the stops, giving them the best luxury housing that could be found in the area – there was no hotel...

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A Minute of Silence in Cannes

Cannes went silent this afternoon (a different time zone) due to the terrorist bombing at the Ariana Grande concert in Manchester. Another senseless tragedy.

The official statement:

This is yet another attack on culture, youth and joyfulness, on our freedom, generosity and tolerance, all things that the Festival and those who make it possible –the artists, professionals and spectators– hold dear.

The Festival de Cannes invites all festival-goers to show their solidarity with the victims, their families and the British people by observing a minute's silence this Tuesday 23 May at 3 PM.