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 think it is safe to say that the seventies bore witness to the greatest decade for cinema. The fifties saw a post-war stagnation, the sixties saw experimentation and a liberation of ideas, and the seventies saw expansion and, as was often the case, a reach for excess. The Hollywood elite lost all semblance of … Continue reading Travelling Through Time: The Best Films of the 1970s
The best horrors seem to imitate the fragile, visceral quality of your worst nightmares, some of which were spawned in your youth; transcending reality and making us feel like no other genre does. And ‘the scary place’ plays into that fear brilliantly. Film Critic Mark Kermode The place that Kermode refers to here can come … Continue reading Horror in Store, Part 2: The Art of Terror
Can’t Get You Out of My Head: An Emotional History of the Modern World (BBC)Written and directed by Adam CurtisAvailable on YouTube Just to be clear, this documentary seemingly has nothing to do with Kylie’s 2001 hit ‘Can't Get You Out of My Head’ despite sharing the title. You could find a connection somewhere in … Continue reading The One Review: Can’t Get You Out of My Head (2021 Adam Curtis)
The film year during Covid began with a gawk-inducing attempt by Wonder Woman Gal Gadot to bring sunshine into people’s lives affected by lockdown by assembling a star-studded line-up to collectively sing John Lennon’s ‘Imagine’, and it ended with Tom Cruise giving a foul-mouthed tirade to a few people who stood too close to each … Continue reading Film in 2020: Best and Worst in a Year of Few
There are so many incredible examples of cinematography from around the world. So much so that it can be very difficult to settle on a particular moment or place in cinema history for an appropriate inclusion to this great series that Robin has devised. But I thought it relevant to go back to when cinematography … Continue reading Cinematography of the World, Part 2: Jack Cardiff in 1940s Britain
Middling films of the year There were three particular movies from three acclaimed and barrier-breaking directors that I believe could have done more than they did this year. Alfonso Cuaron’s Roma was beautiful, affecting and imbued with symbolism, but it lacked the magic of some of his earlier stuff. The Favourite by Yorgos Lanthimos was … Continue reading Review of the Year 2019 in Film
“In the movies, I always played the heroic types. But when the stage lights went out, it was time for drugs and stupidity, and the coveting of women. Now it's time. Time to be a little of what I had always fantasised of being: a hero.” Bubba Ho-Tep is not only the best film with … Continue reading Midnight Movies, Part 4 – The King is Alive in Bubba Ho-Tep
What would you do with half a million bucks? Maybe buy a nice house, purchase some hot wheels, or perhaps take the family away on a luxurious cruise? Would you spend it on a movie about aliens? Yes, you would?...okay, good to know and thanks for dropping by, Roger Corman. It’s not a small amount … Continue reading Midnight Movies, Part 2 – Shooting Up Into A Liquid Sky
There has always been an appetite for provocative subject matter in movies. Whether that comes principally from the will of the audience or the will of the creator is a matter of debate. When I say provocative subject matter, I mean anything that intentionally veers from the mainstream path and entices the viewer into challenging … Continue reading Midnight Movies, Part 1 – The Acid Adventures of El Topo
Momentary Cinema 