This post is part of The World War II Blogathon, hosted by Cinema Essentials and Maddy Loves Her Classic Films. See the other posts here. In A Canterbury Tale, Alison Smith (Sheila Sim), a Land Girl doing her bit in wartime Kent, goes for a walk on the Old Road pilgrims once travelled to Canterbury. […]
Out of the Frying Pan: ‘The Hot Rock’ (1972)
Part of my ‘New York State of Mind’ series. “I’ve heard of the habitual criminal of course, but I never dreamed I’d become involved in the habitual crime.” So speaks one of the droller denizens of The Hot Rock, Peter Yates’ winding caper film, in which a gang of thieves find themselves stealing the same […]
Neverland and Back: ‘Hook’ (1991)
All little boys grow up, except one. Steven Spielberg’s Hook asks what would happen if the world’s most famous eternal child not only became a man, but a husband and father too. The answer is an intriguing, if not always satisfying foray into the Peter Pan mythos. Peter Banning (Robin Williams) is a middle-aged, workaholic […]
Crooked House: ‘Gaslight’ (1940)
This post is part of the 6th Annual Rule Britannia Blogathon, hosted by A Shroud of Thoughts. See the other posts here. In Gaslight, objects have a peculiar habit of going missing. A picture, a pocket-watch, a brooch—all seem to disappear into the bowels of the house and reappear where they ought not to be. […]
Cat’s-paw: ‘My Cousin Rachel’ (1952)
This post is part of The Calls of Cornwall: The Daphne du Maurier blogathon, hosted by Pale Writer. See the other posts here. Poor Philip Ashley. He falls in love, suddenly and irrevocably, with a woman beyond compare. He makes no secret of his devotion, defends his lady’s honour, worships her beauty and grace, and […]
Boiling Point: Thoughts on ‘Do the Right Thing’ (1989)
Back after a brief hiatus: my ‘New York State of Mind’ series. When it was released in July 1989, Do the Right Thing was a grenade thrown from the front line: the system isn’t working; America is a pressure cooker, not a melting pot. Spike Lee’s film, about two days in the life of a […]
The World of W. Somerset Maugham: ‘Quartet’ (1948), ‘Trio’ (1950) and ‘Encore’ (1951)
“In my twenties the critics said I was brutal, in my thirties they said I was flippant, in my forties they said I was cynical, in my fifties they said I was incompetent and then in my sixties they said I was superficial.” So speaks W. Somerset Maugham in his wry introduction to Quartet, an […]
Monster from the Id: Cody Jarrett in ‘White Heat’ (1949)
This post is a (very late) entry in the Great Villain Blogathon, hosted by Shadows and Satin, Speakeasy and Silver Screenings. See the other posts here. I’ve decided to try something a little different for this post: not a review but a look at a single performance. (Spoilers ahead.) Some villains have chainsaws, others vats […]
Five Riffs on ‘Paris Blues’ (1961)
Paul Newman has been TCM’s star of the month this May; presumably because the programmers knew just how many of his films I hadn’t seen and decided to make me happy. On my must-watch list, Paris Blues, a film I’ve longed to see, if only to further appreciate the origins of this gif: Directed by […]
The Circus is a Wacky World: ‘Inside Daisy Clover’ (1965)
Inside Daisy Clover has urgent news to impart: Hollywood is full of phoneys. Beneath its sparkling veneer, Tinseltown is a snake pit filled with sycophants and fiends who pay millions for your smile, while also stealing your soul. This revelation isn’t particularly shocking, or much of a revelation, but the film repeats it endlessly and […]