Author Spotlight

Adam Nayman

Adam Nayman is a critic, lecturer, and author based in Toronto. He writes for the Ringer, Reverse Shot, the New Yorker, and Sight and Sound, and teaches cinema studies at the University of Toronto. He has written several books on film, including the ECW Pop Classics entry It Doesn’t Suck: Showgirls and illustrated critical monographs on the Coen brothers, Paul Thomas Anderson, and David Fincher for Abrams.

5 Results
Targets: American Sniper

Inspired by golden-age monster movies and the story of a real-life mass murderer, Peter Bogdanovich’s debut feature evokes the psychic dread of America in the 1960s, a decade defined by long-distance and increasingly high-profile gun violence.

By Adam Nayman

Essays— May 16, 2023

Deep Dives

All Aboard the Ghost Ship: Hiroshi Matsuno’s Folk Phantasmagoria The Living Skeleton

This underappreciated 1968 film is a feast of dark delights, filled with vengeful ghosts, psychically linked identical twins, obsessed mad scientists, creepy priests, and seemingly sentient skeletons.

By Adam Nayman

Features— Oct 7, 2022
The Same Old Song: A Guide to Neonoir

Since its classic-Hollywood heyday, noir has remained a vibrant mode in both studio and independent filmmaking, taking on nostalgic resonances in the highly referential work of Robert Altman, Arthur Penn, Brian De Palma, and the Coen brothers.

By Adam Nayman

Features— Jul 19, 2021
Carry That Weight: The Films of Atom Egoyan

The Canadian auteur’s fanatically elaborate puzzle-box narratives invite the audience to discover their hidden meanings and bear the psychological burdens of their characters.

By Adam Nayman

Features— Jul 27, 2020
King of Canada
I didn’t know quite what to say to Allan King when I met him for the first time in the fall of 2003 at his home offices in downtown Toronto. This was partly out of deference to his reputation as one of Canada’s most eminent filmmakers—the man w…

By Adam Nayman

Features— Sep 16, 2010