5 hours ago‘The Boston Strangler’ or — “Realism” My Perfectly Formed Ass?!Richard Fleischer’s ‘The Boston Strangler’ (1968) opens by declaring that the events we are about to witness actually happened and does so with the attitude and stance of a purveyor of truth and realism: the camera has the roving eye of a probing investigator; the soundtrack is a collage of…The Boston Strangler4 min readThe Boston Strangler4 min read
1 day ago‘Knock at the Cabin’ or — A Revolting Hard-On for the American Eschaton?There’s something deeply distasteful about M. Night Shyamalan’s ‘Knock at the Cabin’ (2023) and it’s something that seems to have grown out of the American religious right’s thanatos-driven desire for the end times — “The world is ending but hey, we were right all along. Awesome. Bring on the Apocalypse!”…Knock At The Cabin3 min readKnock At The Cabin3 min read
4 days ago‘Shotgun Wedding’ or — The Best God-Awful-Tropical-Island-Wedding-Movie I’ve Seen in the Last Five Months?!‘Shotgun Wedding’ (2022) is just one of the latest in the baffling current trend of ‘tropical island wedding movies’, a genre of films I seem to rapidly, and worryingly, fast becoming an, well, maybe “expert” is too strong a word but if I watch even just one more of these…Shotgun Wedding3 min readShotgun Wedding3 min read
5 days ago‘The Big Gundown’ or — Bugs, Elmer and… American Foreign Policy?!Sergio Sollima’s ‘The Big Gundown’ (1966) is one of the most unusual, atypical and unique Italian Westerns I’ve ever come across as whilst the set-up and structure — bounty hunter Jonathan Corbett (Lee Van Cleef) must track down and capture the murderous Cuchillo (Tomas Milian) before he can escape back…The Big Gundown3 min readThe Big Gundown3 min read
Feb 1‘Tár’ or — I Missed the Best Joke in the Entire Film?!“Todd Field is a bloody idiot,” I grumbled to myself as I frantically dashed to the bathroom for a pee halfway during the writer/director’s work about an abusive conductor. “I mean, why does every filmmaker always have to habitually reach for the Adagietto from Mahler’s 5th for their movies? It’s…Tar3 min readTar3 min read
Jan 25‘Babylon’ or — How I Could’ve Saved This Bloody Mess with One Simple Idea?Damien Chazelle’s ‘Babylon’ (2022) is very much like another movie about the early days of Hollywood, namely Peter Bogdanovich’s ‘Nickelodeon’ (1976)… if Peter Bogdanovich had been a deranged chimpanzee hurling his faeces around! You know, it’s highly ironic that in the process of making a love-letter to filmmaking that Chazzy…Babylon5 min readBabylon5 min read
Jan 24‘Royal Warriors’ or — 101 Things to Do With an Uzi?Director David Chung’s ‘Royal Warriors’ (1986) is a sort of spiritual sequel to the girls-with-guns action flick ‘Yes, Madam’ (1985) and even though this follow-up doesn’t contain a fight sequence as glorious as the previous film’s climactic showdown (but, then again, what film does?!) what ‘Royal Warriors’ has going for…Royal Warriors3 min readRoyal Warriors3 min read
Jan 22‘Waterloo’ or — The Greatest Flawed Epic Ever Made?‘Waterloo’ (1970) tells the story of one ego-maniac’s vision to conquer all Europe and so he marshals together a collection of vast forces to achieve his monumental goal. Of course I’m talking about Italian producer Dino De Laurentiis who brought together talent, actors and crew from the Soviet Union, Italy…Waterloo3 min readWaterloo3 min read
Jan 13‘BBC Scotland’s Music Problem’ or — A Potential Cultural Dead Zone?There’s an area off the Gulf of Mexico where the oxygen levels of the ocean are so low that no marine life can survive in the waters. This is known as ‘hypoxia’ and results in an aquatic ‘dead zone’. I was reminded of this because with the recent news of…Bbc Scotland4 min readBbc Scotland4 min read
Jan 2‘Yes, Madam’ or — Nothing That Special… Until Suddenly it Is?!Despite the tantalising prospect of seeing Michelle Yeoh and the amazing Cynthia Rothrock co-lead an action movie together I was somewhat wary settling down to watch Corey Yuen’s ‘Yes, Madam’ (1985) because of prior knowledge regarding an executive decision made by the producers that could’ve potentially destroyed the entire movie…Cynthia Rothrock3 min readCynthia Rothrock3 min read
