Allan Stratton - Quillette

Joaquin Phoenix as the Joker and Lady Gaga as Harley Quinn

A Joke Too Far?

Todd Phillips’s unfairly reviled sequel raises interesting questions about the artistic licence auteurs take with well-known properties.

Allan Stratton

24 Oct 2024 · 11 min read

Tales of Creation and Adaptation

The journey of two novels from mind to page to silver screen.

Allan Stratton

14 Oct 2024 · 22 min read

Alice Munro, an elderly woman, walks along the foreshore in Canada.

Monstrous Things

Dostoevsky, Alice Munro, and the nature of fiction—what does our inability to forgive do to our ability to confess?

Allan Stratton

1 Sep 2024 · 11 min read

Composite portrait of Mia Goth's face in her three roles in the trilogy.

Texas Porn Star Massacres

Ti West’s clever and original ‘X’ trilogy is elevated postmodern horror at its finest and its director’s best work to date.

Allan Stratton

24 Jul 2024 · 12 min read

Collage of images from the Mad Max movies

Blood, Sweat, and Gasoline

The story of Hollywood’s most unlikely blockbuster franchise, Mad Max.

Allan Stratton

5 Jun 2024 · 21 min read

A still of Ryan Gosling in The Fall Guy trailer.

A History of Stunts

Ryan Gosling’s new film is a love letter to an under-appreciated art.

Allan Stratton

17 May 2024 · 9 min read

Actor Nick Offerman as the President of the US during a public address. A still from the film.

American Carnage

Alex Garland’s spectacular new film ‘Civil War’ is a warning of what can happen to democracies when civil society collapses.

Allan Stratton

18 Apr 2024 · 7 min read

An Unlikely Cinematic Triumph

Efforts to produce a worthy film adaptation of Frank Herbert’s ‘Dune’ seemed doomed to failure—until Denis Villeneuve gave us his two-part blockbuster.

Allan Stratton

15 Mar 2024 · 14 min read

The Best Picture Nominees, 2024

A look at the ten nominees for this year’s Best Picture Oscar.

Allan Stratton

17 Feb 2024 · 17 min read

The Left’s Social Contract Is Broken. Here’s How to Fix It

A relentless focus on dubious forms of ‘oppression’ is alienating traditional leftists. Saving the progressive movement means returning it to its liberal roots

Allan Stratton

20 Jul 2023 · 15 min read

Corporate Rainbow Marketing: Too Much of a Good Thing

A recent dust-up involving NHL goalie James Reimer demonstrates the folly of pitting Pride PR against the conscience of individual actors.

Allan Stratton

23 Mar 2023 · 7 min read

A Bore of a Blockbuster

Next time, one hopes, James Cameron will focus as much on the story he tells as the means he uses to tell it.

Allan Stratton

19 Jan 2023 · 7 min read

Dave Chappelle vs. the New Puritans

As the legendary comedian chalks up prestigious awards and plays to packed houses, his progressive critics look increasingly ridiculous.

Allan Stratton

3 Aug 2022 · 9 min read

Ricky Gervais Knows No Fear

The comedian's new Netflix special has its weak spots. But when it comes to goring gender ideology's sacred cows, no one does it better

Allan Stratton

16 Jun 2022 · 9 min read

If You Care About Trans Rights, Don’t Let Predators Pick Their Pronouns

Some men are re-identifying as men immediately upon release from women’s prisons.

Allan Stratton

29 Apr 2022 · 13 min read