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
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
You said it would last, but I guess we enrolled in 1984 ‘1984’ by David Bowie The year 1984 was peak ‘eighties’ in terms of pop culture (the second season of Stranger Things certainly embellishes this notion). Rolling Stone consider it ‘Pop’s Greatest Year,’ with endless radio plays now guaranteed for classic tunes such as … Continue reading 1984 – A Very Good Year for Film
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
As mentioned in Part 1, Quentin Tarantino takes us on an entertaining journey through the New Hollywood era of filmmaking in his latest book, Cinema Speculation. Unsurprisingly, he focuses on his favourite directors – all tough and macho like Don Siegel and John Flynn – but he does offer an interesting critique of their works. … Continue reading Quentin Tarantino’s Cinema Speculation Reviewed, Part 2
In his latest book Cinema Speculation, his first non-fiction work, Quentin Tarantino discusses a number of movies he saw in the late sixties, throughout the seventies and into the early eighties. He delves into the era of New Hollywood and delivers a comprehensive and entertaining commentary on films that had the most effect on him … Continue reading Quentin Tarantino’s Cinema Speculation Reviewed, Part 1
The first film I saw in the cinema was Honey I Shrunk the Kids, a Disney film penned (weirdly) by body horror masters Brian Yuzna (Society) and Stuart Gordon (Re-animator), and released in the summer of 1989. I was four, so the memory is a bit patchy but I do recall being very complimentary of … Continue reading Travelling Through Time: The Best Films of the 1980s
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
Smile (2022, Paramount Pictures / Temple Hill Entertainment) Featuring Sosie Bacon, Jessie T. Usher, Kyle Gallner, Robin Weigert, Caitlin Stasey and Kal Penn. Music by Cristobal Tapia de VeerWritten and directed by Parker Finn. ★★★ This Halloween I found myself craving something different so thought I'd give Smile a go. It was by far one … Continue reading The Two Reviews – Smile and Top Gun: Maverick
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
Momentary Cinema 