The rolling, monochrome landscapes. The often quirky bit-characters that fill the screen. The Indian who can recite William Blake poetry by heart? Yeah, probably not your average western. Dead Man is a 1995 western by Jim Jarmusch, featuring Johnny Depp as William Blake (no, not the William Blake), that stands as a bit of a … Continue reading “He who talks loud, saying nothing”: Dead Man, the monochrome western of ‘95.
Tag: Film
‘This is the land of wolves’: Denis Villeneuve’s ‘Sicario’
2015 was, in my opinion, a great year for movies. Some films provided sheer, blistering entertainment such as Star Wars: The Force Awakens and Jurassic World. Some films created a story that I became deeply invested in, for example The Revenant and Creed. The Hateful Eight was a tour-de-force in the art of dialogue, Spectre … Continue reading ‘This is the land of wolves’: Denis Villeneuve’s ‘Sicario’
‘However vast the darkness, we must supply our own light.’: ‘2001: A Space Odyssey’
On March 31st of 1964, Stanley Kubrick, fresh from the success of his dark comedy Dr Strangelove or: How I Stopped Worrying and Learned to Love the Bomb (1964), composed a letter to renowned astronomer and science fiction novelist Arthur C. Clarke, which contained a proposal for a joint effort in writing a screenplay that … Continue reading ‘However vast the darkness, we must supply our own light.’: ‘2001: A Space Odyssey’
‘Black, white, rich, poor. It’s for everybody.’: Free State of Jones
Films based on true historical events have existed since the dawn of cinema and every year, more and more are pushed out in a hope of recreating the past. Ultimately, that is their goal. However, some over-romanticize (Titanic), some over-fantasize (300) and others just underwhelm massively (Pearl Harbour). But amongst the debris, there is a … Continue reading ‘Black, white, rich, poor. It’s for everybody.’: Free State of Jones
An offer you can’t refuse: ‘The Godfather’
It is a film that has passed into almost folkloric legend – not just in the western world, but throughout the entire world. You don’t even need to have watched the film to know where the line, ‘I’m gonna make him an offer he can’t refuse…’ came from. At the 30th Golden Globes in 1973, … Continue reading An offer you can’t refuse: ‘The Godfather’
God’s lonely man: ‘Taxi Driver’
In 1976, Evening News reported a film had been released that was ‘as gory as A Clockwork Orange and Straw Dogs’. Critic Leonard Maltin states that it is a ‘gory, cold-blooded story of a sick man’s lurid descent into violence’ and slammed the film as ‘ugly and unredeeming’. Yet, in 1976, it won the Palme … Continue reading God’s lonely man: ‘Taxi Driver’
Desert Plains and Smokin’ Pistols: ‘Day of Anger’
You know how it goes: the mysterious stranger rides into town seeking vengeance for some past wrong-doing and takes on the gang that runs the show. But you add a jazzy Riz Ortolani score and an Italian director and you have an entertaining film that has been overshadowed by the giants of the spaghetti western … Continue reading Desert Plains and Smokin’ Pistols: ‘Day of Anger’
Good times for Drew Goddard: ‘Bad Times at the El Royale’
It’s been a long seven years, but Drew Goddard’s sixties-set noir-styled thriller has shown us that his work only gets better with time. Goddard’s 2011 debut Cabin in the Woods was widely hailed as a successful piece of horror cinema, and his latest release, Bad Times at the El Royale, has more than lived up … Continue reading Good times for Drew Goddard: ‘Bad Times at the El Royale’
“I am reality”: Oliver Stone’s grit-filled icon, ‘Platoon’
It is obvious that the Vietnam War sub-genre has been a haven for fantastic films, with Kubrick’s Full Metal Jacket and Coppola’s Apocalypse Now being the heavyweights of them all. I had always thought of Platoon as the “runt of the litter” – seemingly a little less fleshed out with symbolism – until I recently … Continue reading “I am reality”: Oliver Stone’s grit-filled icon, ‘Platoon’
Erased from memory: The mainstream-forgotten debut from David Lynch, ‘Eraserhead’
Watching David Lynch’s 1977 feature ‘Eraserhead’, it is easy to understand why it is not often mentioned throughout the casual cinema-goer world; a little artsy, full of macabre imagery and with no discernible soundtrack, it doesn’t stand up as a necessarily entertaining piece of cinema. Instead, it is a film that requires the viewer’s nerve … Continue reading Erased from memory: The mainstream-forgotten debut from David Lynch, ‘Eraserhead’
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