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One of the biggest challenges in writing is wrapping things up. If you fail to write a satisfying ending, you can taint your story even for its most dedicated fans. Hiromu Arakawa, author of "Fullmetal Alchemist," testified to this in a 2021 interview with Bessatsu Shonen Magazine. In a conversation with Hajime Isayama, both authors described the difficulties they faced in concluding their stories.

Per Arakawa, her thorniest challenge was the fate of Colonel Roy Mustang — and how much suffering he was due. The overarching theme of "Fullmetal Alchemist" is equivalent exchange: you get what you deserve. Now that Mustang is on the side of the good guys, that's (almost) never in doubt. From his charm to his badass fighting skills to his hilarious love for tiny mini-skirts, it's easy to like Mustang. It's just as easy to forget he has gallons of innocent blood staining his hands.

While most of the heroes get happy endings,...

Ted Donaldson, who starred as Bud Anderson on the original radio version of Father Knows Best and as Neely Nolan in the beloved family drama A Tree Grows in Brooklyn, the first feature directed by Elia Kazan, has died. He was 89.

Donaldson died Wednesday of complications from a fall in his Echo Park apartment in January, his friend Thomas Bruno told The Hollywood Reporter.

In his big-screen debut, Donaldson portrayed a boy who gets his pet caterpillar Curly to dance when he plays “Yes Sir, That’s My Baby” on the harmonica in the comedy fantasy Once Upon a Time (1944), starring Cary Grant and Janet Blair.

He also starred as Danny Mitchell in eight B-movies from Columbia Pictures that revolved around a German shepherd named Rusty. The first one, Adventures of Rusty (1945), featured Ace the Wonder Dog.

An only child, Donaldson was born in Brooklyn on Aug. 20, 1933. His father was...

The first wave of titles for this year's edition of The Brooklyn Horror Film Festival have been announced and is filled with horror movie premieres, special events, and a Lucio Fulci retrospective you won't want to miss!

The Brooklyn Horror Film Festival announces today the first wave of titles for their explosive 2022 edition, presented by Shudder, running October 13th to the 20th with screenings held at Nitehawk Cinema Williamsburg and Williamsburg Cinemas. Following last year’s return to theaters, Bhff is thrilled to present its most robust slate to date.

The festival will open with the Eva Green starring Nocebo, the latest psychological thriller from celebrated Irish filmmaker Lorcan Finnegan, best known for his 2019 Cannes selection Vivarium, starring Imogen Poots and Jesse Eisenberg, but better known to Bhff audiences for his feature debut Without Name, which swept the festival awards in 2016 taking Best Feature, Best Director, Best Cinematography, and Best Editing.

Self-portraits are respected, if not encouraged in virtually all artforms. Except cinema. There, when a director turns camera on themselves, it can seem indulgent, if not downright gratuitous. It’s a tricky line to walk, sharing without showing off, revealing insights no one else could while maintaining enough distance for audiences to relate. When it goes right, audiences get something seismic, ground-breaking like “Exit Through the Gift Shop,” the Banksy bombshell dismantling of his own mystique. “La Originals” is the opposite, a feature-length sizzle reel in service of its makers’ still semi-underground reputation.

In this Netflix original, which was supposed to premiere at the coronavirus-canceled SXSW Film Festival last month, photographer Estevan Oriol assembles a monumental tribute to the downtown Los Angeles scene from which he and best friend/business associate Mister Cartoon (tattoo legend Mark Machado) emerged to become unlikely influencers. You know their work: Oriol shot the famous “L.

On March 27th, trance god Armin van Buuren will release his A State of Trance 2015 compilation, which will contain “26 exclusive and unreleased tracks, including never-before-heard songs from Armada Music artists, Protoculture, Alexander Popov, and Orjan Nilsen, plus two new Gaia songs.”

Spread over two discs, the “seamlessly and continuously mixed” compilation has already been nominated for an International Dance Music Award at the 2015 Winter Music Conference, and is expected to be a huge hit upon its release. Armin has been releasing these compilations since 2004, and each year he impresses with a strong mix of some of the genre’s most exciting tracks.

2015 looks to be no different, as judging by the tracklist below, we’re in for another treat from the Dutch DJ. There’s a ton of tracks to look forward to here and a great collection of artists included on the disc. If you’re a fan of Armin,...

Interview Simon Brew 11 Oct 2013 - 04:26

Mark Kermode talks to us about his new book, the current state of film criticism, and a little film he wants the world to know about...

Mark Kermode's new book, Hatchet Job, is a dissection of the current state of film criticism. It's a fascinating read, and he settled down for half an hour of solid chat about it in London with us last week. Here's how it went...

Your book raises a lot of interesting points about movie critics, but also hinted widely at the ecosystem around them. In your earlier book, It's Only A Movie, you recount the story of you going on radio on Lbc for your on-air movie reviewing debut. And both you and your mother do not recall that it was your finest hour.

But when you first broadcast a review, and put your name to it, that...

Good Vibrations; Trance; Blancanieves

There's a special kind of magic involved in the creation of a really great pop movie, something that manages to capture both the electrifying thrill the music and the tangible air of the period. Like Steve Rash's The Buddy Holly Story, which still stands up to repeat viewing after 35 long years, Good Vibrations (2012, Universal, 15) is a nostalgic gem blending just the right amount of fact and fantasy as it tells the story of Belfast's "godfather of punk", Terri Hooley. Brilliantly played by Richard Dormer, Hooley is the budding DJ and owner of a proudly non-sectarian record shop whose life is transformed by seeing Rudi perform an ebulliently boisterous live gig and hearing the Undertones play Teenage Kicks. Believing that "New York has the haircuts, London has the trousers, but Belfast has the reason", Hooley starts his own fantastically ramshackle record label, a venture driven entirely by love,...

Brighton On Screen

With the Brighton Rock remake on its way, the Duke Of York's cinema is getting in early with a season of films made in, or with links to, the area. An obvious choice is Quadrophenia, but the more curious should check out odder fare, like The Flesh And Blood Show, directed by former Doy projectionist Peter Walker, the dour thriller Jigsaw and John Mackenzie's Made, a social drama featuring folkie Roy Harper. The centrepiece is Brighton Rock Unseen, a tribute to Graham Greene's original novel and the iconic 1947 movie it spawned.

Duke Of York's, Sun to 29 Aug; picturehouses.co.uk

Chichester Film Festival

Opening with Sylvain Chomet's lovely, Jacques Tati-inspired animation The Illusionist, the 19th Chichester Film Festival is bent on bringing magic of all kinds to the screen. Aside from previews of upcoming Us, European, Asian and British flicks – including...