Being Film #16 for Hooptober 2023 I think the biggest mystery of Dead Ringers is how it didn't win ALL the awards, especially for Jeremy Irons. I've always held the film at arm's length, admiring its execution but getting precisely what I wanted from a Cronenberg movie. Well that was then and now I'm older... Continue Reading →
Being Film #15 for Hooptober 2023 "Pick a film from the year you turned 10" they said. Easy enough. I had been meaning to get to Psycho II for more years than I can remember. For years it had been been the subject of reconsiderations; cries of "underrated" and "hidden gem" being floated about with... Continue Reading →
In the aftermath of Jaws, it’s hard to count the actual number of knock offs and clones made to capitalize on the success of that film. They ranged from big budget wide release films like 1977’s Orca to low budget affairs like 1976’s backwoods effort Grizzly, a movie that featured an actual grizzly bear. Known... Continue Reading →
Being Film #3 for Hooptober 2023 Man, there is just something about Dario Argento. Excepting The Five Days (only because I haven't seen it) his run of films from 1970's The Bird With the Crystal Plumage up to 1996's The Stendhal Syndrome (I'm giving a soft pass to 93's Trauma because I barely remember it)... Continue Reading →
Being Film #1 for Hooptober 2023 Sometimes suspending your disbelief can be a chore, but sometimes - if the tone is just ridiculous enough - it can be a delight. There was a lot to suspend in Night of the Comet, a sci-fi horror comedy that's more "Valley Girl survives the Apocalypse" than anything else,... Continue Reading →
When it comes to compiling "Best _ of All Time" lists, I generally find the process more interesting than the final lists themselves. For me personally, I obsess for hours over the internal debates and criteria which only make sense to me. Once those decisions are made, all that is left to do is record... Continue Reading →
Coming up with a Sight and Sound ballot, even one that didn’t get submitted to the actual magazine, presents unique challenges. The only criteria put forth by the venerable magazine is to vote for the greatest films of all time, leaving voters free to interpret that. It opens things up to a wide set of... Continue Reading →
What's in a list, anyway? It's something I've struggled with throughout my time as an online writer. But when you're considering a set list of, as the BFI so brazenly puts it, the greatest films of all time, it becomes apparent that a list - any list - must encompass both a sense of inflexibility... Continue Reading →
The camera gives us, the audience, a view of the Atlantic Ocean. This scene is not particularly peaceful. The waters here don’t look beautiful. The ocean roils into muddy bubbles. An African-American father and son though play unconcerned in these not particularly calm waters. The camera then turns to a white woman named France, watching... Continue Reading →
One of the joys of watching regional horror movies is coming across something deeply strange. Regional films tend to bring out the unhinged in a particular era of filmmakers. Maybe the film needed to meet the demands of a producer or distributor. Possibly the filmmakers tried to one up another film to get your film... Continue Reading →
Cinema Dual 