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
Did you know there is going to be a sequel to Braveheart (1995)? I know! If ever there was a movie which needed a sequel. So many questions were left unanswered. Did Scotland’s nobles universally accept Robert Bruce? How did the writing of the ‘Declaration of Arbroath’ effect the legal position of the Scottish royal … Continue reading Dramatis Scocie – The Effective Use of the Scottish Landscape in Film
As the book The Silence of the Lambs (1988) begins Jack Crawford is already hunting a serial killer nicknamed “Buffalo Bill”. He is short of personnel and resources and he is without his former protégé, Will Graham. He is also dealing with the increasing ill health of his wife as she struggles with cancer. If … Continue reading Hunting the Cannibal: The Heroes of Thomas Harris, Part 2 – Clarice Starling
Thomas Harris has created some chilling and hideously memorable characters. Of course, everyone remembers Hannibal Lecter (or ‘Lecktor’ in some versions of the character). This is not surprising. After all, everyone remembers Dracula and the Wolfman but few can enthusiastically list all the brave men and women who hunted the monsters. What are the serial … Continue reading Hunting the Cannibal: The Heroes of Thomas Harris, Part 1 – Will Graham
Solo: A Star Wars Story is a good film. It isn’t great. It won’t change your life. It won’t make you a better person. Or a deeper thinker. Or a more considerate lover. But it WILL pass a couple of hours of entertaining escapism – set in the Star Wars Universe but not relying on … Continue reading Solo: A Star Wars Story – Stuck-up, Half-witted and Scruffy-looking But Still A Pretty Good Movie
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 of the oldest rules is Rule 9: All Our Greatest Heroes Arrive Fully Formed. In fact this rule is so old … Continue reading Rule 9: All Our Greatest Heroes Arrive Fully Formed
The Movie Franchise: Alien The Game: Alien: Isolation (2014) Not content with the beating it took at the hands of the Predator franchise, the Alien franchise is being gradually kicked to death by prequels which undermine the best qualities of the originals while bolting on elements of bigger and better sci-fi like 2001 A Space … Continue reading Digital Reign: When the computers out-cinema the cinema
In the dark and brooding corner, hoping for a surprise victory! The challenger, the underdog, we have the newly formed Justice League! Consisting of: Batman – rich and cool but ultimately powerless. Wonder Woman – a big favourite with the fans and the only one ahead on points. Aquaman – hard drinking, hard swimming and … Continue reading DC vs. Marvel: Ragnarok vs. Justice League
This is the third and last in a series of posts on the filmmaking of Alfred Hitchcock (1899-1980): one of the greatest directors of all time. These posts are authored by Robin Stevens, JJ McDermott and Alan Matthews, and the idea is for each part to take a selection of Hitchcock’s films and analyze them … Continue reading Exploring Hitchcock Part 3: Don’t read this! – Vertigo and Psycho (By Alan Matthews)
The Shootist (1976) begins like so many other westerns: the main character, a mysterious lone figure emerging from the wilderness, reluctantly on his way into civilisation. In this case the wilderness is the snow-covered mountains and foothills outside of Carson City and the lone figure, wrapped and hunched against the cold, is John Bernard Books. … Continue reading “The most celebrated shootist extant” – John Wayne and The Shootist
