‘…a rather lackluster way to end the trilogy…’ This is the third installment of Coogan and Brydon’s sojourn of comic impersonations, while sampling culinary delights and generally driving about. The first was set in Northern England, the second along the coast of Italy and now the third in Spain. This is the least interesting of … Continue reading The Two Reviews: The Trip to Spain (2017 Michael Winterbottom)
Unlike a previous post, which also dealt with great cinematic scores, here disagreements are not welcomed. The following selection may not be your favourite movie scores but they sure as hell should be in your top ten. These are a selection of soundtracks which were integral to the telling of the story, which lifted the … Continue reading The Score is Not Settled: 7 More Great Cinematic Musical Compositions
A Ghost Story (Directed by David Lowery, starring Rooney Mara and Casey Affleck) This is a slow-paced but absorbing film about grief and loss. It is not a horror story in any sense, but let’s call it a romance / drama – it concerns a ghost occupying his home following his sudden death and watching … Continue reading A Few New Reviews: A Ghost Story, American Made, Atomic Blonde and Logan Lucky
'…sits nicely in the cyberpunk genre…’ Ghost in the Shell is a well-established franchise in comics, movies and TV. Just not as live action. The animated movie Ghost in the Shell (1995), based on the 1989 manga series, has been so influential in science fiction cinema that it has become an almost impossible task to … Continue reading The Two Reviews: Ghost in the Shell (2017 Rupert Sanders)
‘…full historical disclosure be damned…’ The mastermind behind Memento and those latter day Batman movies, Christopher Nolan, takes on his first significant British-centred film (it’s his country of birth after all) and there is an inescapable tinge, or should I say cringe, of Union Jack waving at work here – very inappropriate timing one must … Continue reading The Three Reviews: Dunkirk (2017 Christopher Nolan)
The fear, the tension, the anticipation surrounding the proposed release of Star Wars Episode VIII: The Last Jedi in December of this year is palpable. You can taste it in the air. Speculation about the plot, the quality of the production and the new direction of the canon take up more bytes on the internet … Continue reading Hope for the Future – Star Wars Episode VIII: The Last Jedi Preview
The Woodstock Festival in the summer of 1969, as many will attest to, marked a landmark in the American post-war social consciousness. Michael Wadleigh’s award winning documentary Woodstock (1970) brilliantly captured the infamous concert in its entirety, not only showcasing the creative musical talent that marked the decade prior but also informing us of a … Continue reading The American Road Movie: Driving Away From the 1960s Counterculture
‘The Golden Age of Television’ is certainly upon us and one may only subscribe to Netflix, or wherever, these days to witness this. There is a startling depth of choice when it comes to new TV shows from around the world, and within this depth, one may also observe the growing trend for TV shows … Continue reading The Sun Always Shines on TV, Part 2
The second ‘Golden Age of Hollywood’ is sinking under the weight of its own superhero films, multiple shared universes and the need to market toys. On the flipside, one could say that ‘The Golden Age of Television’ has been on the rise for two decades now and showing no sign of abating. Film studios have … Continue reading The Sun Always Shines on TV, Part 1
Charlie Chaplin once stated that A Place in the Sun (1951) was ‘the greatest film ever made about America’. Nominated for nine Academy Awards, it won six of them along with numerous other awards and accolades. Produced and directed by George Stevens, and starring Montgomery Clift, Elizabeth Taylor and Shelley Winters, it is one of … Continue reading Shades of Light and Dark in A Place in the Sun
Momentary Cinema 