Smuge!

Mike Leigh is one of Britain’s greatest modern filmmakers. His movies can vary from being gritty, touching, heart-warming or disturbing; but they are always incredibly realistic. Along with the likes of Alan Bleasdale and Ken Loach, Mike Leigh is very good at giving a true-to-life picture of our country. Over the years I have seen quite a lot of his work, but my favourite is still, ‘High Hopes’.

It centres on a likeable biker couple who live in a small Read the rest of this entry »

Rutger Hauer has starred in a colossal amount of films. Most of them are good, several are brilliant whilst one or two are best forgotten about. But, for me, his greatest ever roles were in ‘Blade Runner’ and ‘The Hitcher’; his ‘handsome in an evil way’ looks were perfect for these two movies.

In 1986, the film industry was desperate for a half-decent thriller and when ‘The Hitcher’ turned up it was just what the doctor had ordered. It appealed Read the rest of this entry »

Despite the fact it is a Guy Richie film, and despite the fact that it had Jude Law in it, I hate to admit it but I liked the new Sherlock Holmes film. The plot is that of any high-octane action film - not too strong on deep analysis, but lots of excuses for fight scenes, explosions and the obligatory dwarf - and follows the overdone storyline of the Freemasons using their secret society full of occult based activities to Read the rest of this entry »

So I was on the Twin Peaks forum the other day and it made me think what would modern cinema be like without the enigma that is David Lynch?

No one else out there seems to have quite the same amount of imagination, style and strangeness. The only person I can think of who is anything like him is Lars von Trier, but even his work is not on par with Mr. Lynch’s.

Since he made his directional debut Read the rest of this entry »

A while ago I watched a film called, ‘Across the Universe’. When you consider that I have never really enjoyed musicals and that I have always maintained that The Beatles are ‘the most overrated band of all time’ you could fully expect me to detest it. But actually, I thought that it was pretty amazing!

I think that the best thing about the film, for me, is the photography. It is absolutely brilliant. Some of it is so beautiful Read the rest of this entry »

I have just finished watching, ‘Edward Scissorhands’ again; it really is a tremendously good film. Tim Burton has made some brilliant movies over the years but I think that this one is still my favourite of all. It has a little bit of everything in it; comedy, drama, romance. And that is without mentioning the excellent acting and the beautiful photography.

Was it meant to be for adults or kids? I don’t suppose it even matters. ‘Edward Scissorhands’ is a Read the rest of this entry »

This Twin Peaks forum is right up my street. I absolutely loved the series and, as far as I’m concerned, there has never been anything on television since it was shown that matches it.

I think that the best thing about it all is the strange symbolism. Because there were so many things that were left unexplained it is the sort of thing you can talk about for hours on end. The stuff that went on in ‘The Black Lodge’ Read the rest of this entry »

What are the scariest films you have seen?

Tracking down the most frightening horror film is not an easy task… The problem is that everyone has their own idea of what is ‘scary’. For example, there are oodles of movie fans that say ‘The Exorcist’ is absolutely terrifying. I sat and watched a dodgy copy of it with a friend when I was about fourteen. At the time it was still banned and we expected it to scare us both Read the rest of this entry »

If you are a fan of Sci-Fi Horror then you should already know all about ’28 Days Later’. If you are a fan of Sci-Fi Horror and you haven’t seen it then hang your head in shame and get down to that rental shop!

As far as I’m concerned, ’28 Days Later’ is one of the best British Sci-Fi films that was ever made. It was realistic, gripping and genuinely frightening. The accidental outbreak of a man-made virus is not Read the rest of this entry »

When I sat down and watched, ‘Sunshine’ I had no idea just how good it was going to be. I missed the beginning, so I was completely unaware (until the closing credits) that it was made by Danny Boyle and Alex Garland. Because ’28 Days Later’ was such a damned good film I would have expected them to make a good job of a sci-fi story. However, they did an even better job than I expected!

I have always been Read the rest of this entry »