As Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull (2008) reminded us, America in the 1950s could be an uncomfortable and unpleasant time. Not yet fully recovered from the physical horrors of World War II and deep into the psychological terror that was spread about Communism and the threat of nuclear war, this was … Continue reading Saturday Afternoon Movies, Part 7 – Hell and High Water (1954 Samuel Fuller)
In 1827, on a large sandbar near the town of Natchez by the Mississippi River, an organised duel devolved into a brawl between several participants. The initial duel took place as a result of ongoing feuds between various wealthy local families. Specifically the duel was between Samuel L. Wells III and Dr. Thomas H. Maddox. … Continue reading Saturday Afternoon Movies, Part 6 – The Hunted (2003 William Friedkin)
Time for a driving movie. From low budget to big budget via Tina Turner, there is the glory that is the Mad Max films. But not today. Let us assume that for a moment the cartoon crassness of The Fast and the Furious franchise is not welcome. You could refer back to a whole blog … Continue reading Saturday Afternoon Movies, Part 5 – Hell Drivers (1957 Cy Endfield)
With the promise of control of the X-Men Universe reverting back to Marvel, it is interesting to look back on the roller-coaster of quality and influence that is the X-Men movies. It has been almost 20 years since Bryan Singer made X-Men (2000) and as a result made superhero movies fashionable and profitable again. The … Continue reading Saturday Afternoon Movies, Part 4 – Push (2009 Paul McGuigan)
On a rainy Saturday afternoon what do you do if you want to watch something like Blade Runner but with a little more gore and, if possible, a British setting? The answer to that question is easy. You watch Split Second (1992). Have you ever seen those Photoshop images of what London would look like … Continue reading Saturday Afternoon Movies, Part 3 – Split Second (1992) and Deep Rising (1998)
Okay so you have some time to kill and you don’t what to waste your time watching crap on TV. By the same token you’re knackered after work or whatever and you can’t be bothered with some arthouse horseshit where you’ll spend a week wondering if you understood the subtext or even worse… a documentary … Continue reading Saturday Afternoon Movies, Part 2 – Outland (1981 Peter Hyams)
It is a quiet, rainy Saturday afternoon. You’ve got the house to yourself for the first time in ages. You don't have the energy for mayhem and chaos. You’re just going to stay in and watch a movie. But what movie? What are you in the mood for? And is your mood likely to change? … Continue reading Saturday Afternoon Movies, Part 1 – Firefox (1982 Clint Eastwood)
Avengers: Endgame is approaching the end of its cinematic run in the UK. To be replaced by the no less majestic Godzilla: King of the Monsters, the action packed John Wick: Chapter 3 – Parabellum (2019), the no less super X-Men: Dark Phoenix, the frankly insane Fast & Furious: Hobbs & Shaw and Marvel’s own … Continue reading A Marvellous Decade of Cinema – Avengers: Endgame (2019)
There are certain rules known only to a select few by which it is possible to predict the quality of movies. The origin of these rules is often obscure and difficult to explain. One rule which appeared sometime in the last two decades or so is Rule 263: Shia LaBeouf must never be allowed to … Continue reading Rule 263: Shia LaBeouf Must Never Be Allowed To Partake In Any Film That Is Good
Prologue – A Man With No Name This is the story of a story. Not the whole story of course just the highlights. The greatest stories are timeless. They crop up again and again. Christopher Booker, in his 2004 book, described seven basic plots. Leo Tolstoy thought that there were only two: a man goes … Continue reading Akira Kurosawa meets The Man With No Name
