After an initial phase of experimentation, Hollywood expanded into a major money-making business centred around entertainment for the masses. The Studio System that formed around it dictated it to be thus. When talkies replaced silent pictures after 1929, the Golden Age of Hollywood was in full swing and arguably, Hollywood became the primary thing that … Continue reading American Nostalgia, Part 3 – Hollywood
MemoriesLight the corners of my mindMisty water-colored memoriesOf the way we were'The Way We Were’ by Barbra Streisand The Golden Age in the US is generally regarded to be from 1950 until the mid-1970s. It was a time when the instabilities of the earlier decades of the 20th Century (World War I, The Great Depression … Continue reading American Nostalgia, Part 2 – The Golden Age
I saw a post on Reddit recently where someone gave an overview of 298 movies that they had watched at the cinema in 2024. Very impressive number, is it not? Sadly (or perhaps gladly), I don’t have the stamina for that level of picture-house visitation. I watched 46 new films this year (some arguably first … Continue reading 2024 – Another Year in Film
I have been wondering a lot about what makes the quintessential ‘American movie.’ God knows, they have been trying to hammer something home to us for as long as I have been on this earth watching movies...and I think it has something to do with the so-called ‘American Dream.’ I am aware that movies do … Continue reading American Nostalgia, Part 1 – Sports Movies
Running around banging your drum like it's 1973 'This is the Sea' by The Waterboys At the risk of raising the ire of those of you born around or before 1973, I do need to point out for the purposes of this post that it was 50 years ago! But on the plus side, I … Continue reading 1973 – A Great Year for Film
The following twenty films from the 1960s are included in the top 100 on the Sight and Sound critics' list of the Greatest Films of All Time: Black Girl (1965, Ousmane Sembène) (=95) Once Upon a Time in the West (1968, Sergio Leone) (=95) The Leopard (1963, Luchino Visconti) (=90) Pierrot le fou (1965, Jean-Luc … Continue reading Travelling Through Time: The Best Films of the 1960s
Often seen as a stepping stone to the more experimental sixties, the fifties offered some low-key cinematic experimentations in itself. Hollywood continued to focus on their traditional popular genres like Musicals and Westerns, but even in those parameters one can determine some variation and expansion taking hold. And this was mostly down to a subtle … Continue reading Travelling Through Time: The Best Films of the 1950s
Anna Christie, an adaptation of a Eugene O’Neill play, was the first big Hollywood release of the 1930s. It starred the Swedish icon Greta Garbo in her first talking role, and it delivered her famous line at the beginning of the film: ‘Gimme a whisky, ginger ale on the side, and don’t be stingy, baby!’ … Continue reading Travelling Through Time: The Best Films of the 1930s
You make me stare, when I should not Are you so strong or is all the weakness in me? The Weakness in Me by Joan Armatrading We all love a good love story. Sadness and happiness, tears and laughter, fear and hope - all thrown together is what makes a love story work. Hollywood developed … Continue reading The Power of Love, Part 4: Blue is the Warmest Colour (2013)
Momentary Cinema 