Hello! It’s that time again – the obligatory end of year list-athon (I’m aware this sentence in itself is also cliche). I thought this year it I’d be a bit more old school and also fair in my end of year recommendations. In previous years, I’ve listed the best seen and that found that most … Continue reading
Tag Archives: Classics
60th London Film Festival: PART 1
It’s been a long month with many big life changes happening since this year’s BFI London Film Festival, but I couldn’t resist reporting back on what was a particularly successful festival. 60 years of bringing the best of world cinema to London masses, the Festival felt the need to go large or go home. And … Continue reading
A RAGE IN HARLEM (1991)
Based on the 1957 crime-noir novel by Chester Himes, this 1991 film adaptation is a strange beast, a sort of R-rated BUGSY MALONE. While I wasn’t expecting Native Son, I wasn’t anticipating so much slapstick which I think tries to reflect the darkly comic absurdity of its source material (which I’ve yet to read), if … Continue reading
Best of 2015
PHOENIX| Dir. Christian Petzold A haunting film-noir of identity, betrayal and loss set against the backdrop of the end of WWII, PHOENIX is a perfectly judged melodrama that fulfilled all of my requirements for what has become my favoured genre. (2015 was an enlightening year in terms of realising this). With one of the most … Continue reading
LFF Round-Up: Carol
While reading the beautifully melancholic but hopeful Patricia Highsmith pulp classic, The Price Of Salt a few years ago, I had a passing thought that this would be the perfect Todd Haynes venture – an apt follow-up in some respects to one of the most graceful odes to the 1950s era, Far From Heaven. His … Continue reading
BLAST FROM THE PAST – LITTLE SHOP OF HORRORS (1986)
Frank Oz’s LITTLE SHOP OF HORRORS brings back fond memories of watching this as a child (although I had the theatrical version with the distinctly happier ending) and while nearly decades ( yes decades) have passed since I last saw it, I can still sing nearly word perfect at least three of the songs – the titular … Continue reading
SELMA
I won’t tell you how I managed to watch an Academy screener of SELMA at a friend’s house, a few weeks before the film’s general release. Because I’d have to kill you all. Or be killed by the kind person – who shall not be named – who entrusted us with this precious parcel. Massive buildup … Continue reading
2014 – A Year In Film
Seems like only yesterday I was thinking about the film goodness I consumed in 2013, so it’s a little disconcerting that the time has come around again so quickly. 2014 has been a good year for film in my opinion. I think it has more to do that because the last year has been decidedly … Continue reading
New Feature: Blast From The Past…Join me as I Retrofy!
Much of what I review touches upon just a tiny portion of the surfeit of cinema I consume. In my attempts to cover newer independent releases, I find myself regretting not including some really marvellous filmmaking forgotten to the ages. So here is a new, hopefully regular feature, Blast From The Past that will look at more classic film that I champion. I implore … Continue reading