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
I put together this piece (about cities and how they are presented in film) from a number of notes and emails I wrote some years ago. Someone I know was giving a course in the Middle East on that very subject and they asked if I had any ideas, so I managed to collate a … Continue reading The Cinematic City: An Overview
‘I like cooking up extra ideas to add to the sets and costumes, and inventing an imaginary world. But what I'm more inspired by is something that happened to me or someone in my life who had a strong effect on me, or a novel, short story, play, or a movie where the characters moved … Continue reading Appraising the Art of Anderson. Wesley Wales Anderson
Andrzej Wajda’s masterpiece Ashes and Diamonds is set in a small provincial Polish town during early May 1945. Specifically on the day that Nazi Germany surrendered to the Allied forces. Here, we find a snapshot of Polish exiles and Soviet army occupants confronting the dawn of a new Poland. The events of the film are … Continue reading The European Masterpieces Part 3: Ashes and Diamonds (1958 Andrzei Wajda)
Black Panther Directed by Ryan Googler. Featuring Chadwick Boseman, Michael B. Jordan, Lupita Nyong'o, Danai Gurira, Letitia. Wright, Florence Kasumba, Martin Freeman, Angela Bassett, Forest Whitaker, Andy Serkis, Daniel Kaluuya, & Winston Duke. Black Panther is a great movie. It’s just fun. It’s stylish. I have listed most of the lead actors above, because all … Continue reading The Two Reviews: Black Panther (2018 Ryan Coogler)
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
Sweet Country Directed by Warwick Thornton. Featuring Hamilton Morris, Bryan Brown and Sam Neill "...the scenery of the central Australian outback is not only overwhelmingly beautiful, it is scintillating..." Prior to the ironic use of Johnny Cash’s song 'Peace in the Valley' on the closing credits, the Christian preacher Fred Smith (played by Sam Neill) … Continue reading The Two Reviews: Sweet Country (2018 Warwick Thornton)
Murder on the Orient Express (Director, Kenneth Branagh. Featuring Kenneth Branagh, Judi Dench, Johnny Depp, Michelle Pfeiffer, Willem Dafoe, Daisy Ridley, Penelope Cruz, Lesley Odom, Derek Jacobi and Sergei Polunin) Everyone is on the same train i.e. The Orient Express. There is a murder most hideous and everyone is a suspect. I enjoyed this movie … Continue reading The Two Reviews: Murder on the Orient Express and Loving Vincent
And so an end of the first year in the life of Momentary Cinema has been reached. It has been a pleasant and enjoyable experience working on this film blog and I am gratified that it has reached many people across the world - comments about the blog and its contents from people I know … Continue reading Momentary Cinema’s First Year: A Re-Glance
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
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