Steven Spielberg, Tom Hanks and Meryl Streep – the creator and cast alone make The Post an obvious award season favourite. However, with the triumph of Berry Jenkins’ Moonlight at last year’s Academy Awards it seems that the days of conventional Hollywood storytelling ruling the ceremony are now over. Tomorrow, the 2018 Academy Award nominations will be announced and … Continue reading
To the man sat in E15 at last week’s 30th Anniversary screening of Predator: It’s an enjoyable thing, indulging in 1980’s nostalgia at the cinema, with Arnie’s biceps almost tearing through the screen, painfully dated humour and an array of excessively over the top characters delivering the naffest of lines – “I don’t have time to … Continue reading
Actor, Rose McGowan – accuses Weinstein of rape. I sign off every entry here with a line that refers to a ‘beloved film industry’ but today that’s hard to write. Following the brave statements and revelations from a small number of actresses, there is now a vast and seemingly endless stream of accusations emerging against … Continue reading
The first time I saw Mulholland Drive was on a dim laptop screen in the back of a caravan. Even in this least cinematic of locations I found myself intoxicated by David Lynch’s chaotic meditation on the putrid nature of Hollywood. This weekend I finally saw it for the second time on a much larger screen as … Continue reading
A mere two years since Damien Chazelle scooped up several Oscars with Whiplash – only his second feature film – the director returns with La La Land, looking set to dominate next month’s award ceremony. Starring Ryan Gosling’s charm and Emma Stone’s charisma, La La Land is set in contemporary Hollywood and follows two frustrated artists who find refuge in one … Continue reading
Sequels and remakes dominate our cinemas, with the likes of Harry Potter, Captain America and James Bond returning again and again for their guaranteed financial success. Sequels start to worry me once we venture outside of the franchise format. With Ridley Scott’s Prometheus having lacked the charm and intelligence of Alien, the announcement of Blade … Continue reading
For the last year I’ve been terribly aware of being an apologetic Woody Allen fan. This is of course a conversation for another time but it makes me even more aware of whether or not his latest work either flops or soars. I could breath a sigh of relief when Midnight in Paris rolled into … Continue reading
Since the film industry was heinously targeted in the 1950s by Joseph McCarthy and his communist witch hunts, it seems only natural that we would make films about it. The latest in this long line of Hollywood blacklist melodramas is Trumbo, directed by Jay Roach. Best known for bringing us the Austin Powers trilogy, Roach … Continue reading
When charismatic lawyer Hank Palmer learns of his mother’s passing, he finds himself back in the town in which he grew up. Hank seems haunted by the town’s simplistic nature and its lack of change. He has happy memories of this place but they are overshadowed by his broken relationship with his father. Hank has … Continue reading
Recently, I was given a £20 Amazon voucher; a generous present from close friends, congratulating me on my graduation. Instinctively, I immediately ordered several films with the voucher – excited to purchase and own some new films. I have previously written about my personal film collection and its importance to me. Buying new films is … Continue reading
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