“The cinema is an invention without any future.” ― Louis Lumière
In his long and illustrious career, Mel Brooks’ 1991 film ‘Life Stinks’ is probably his least-own film. It was a financial and critical failure and upon rewatching it, it’s deserving of its fate. But it’s such an unusual film in Brooks’ oeuvre that it deserves closer analysis. The film centres on the character of Goddard […]
Read More Review: life stinks (1991)In the late 1980s and early 1990s Oliver Stone was at the peak of his powers as a film director. Not just because many of his films obtained public and critical success (and numerous industry awards) but perhaps more importantly because every Stone film was an ‘event’ for film connoisseurs. Not every film of his […]
Read More Review: Talk Radio (1988)I first saw the film ‘Who Framed Roger Rabbit?’ when it was first released to cinemas back in 1988. Even as a youngster back then, I’d already seen lots films at the cinema but nothing prepared me for the experience of watching this. Its effortless mixture of live-action and animation plus its dazzling array of […]
Read More Review: Who Framed Roger Rabbit? (1988)Here in Melbourne we’re finally getting out of lockdown after being under it for effectively 5 of the past 6 months and it just made me think of whether future generations will be able to imagine what it’s been like to live through this pandemic; the ennui, the lack of activity, how days just merge […]
Read More Random Thread for Nov-Dec 2020One of the enjoyable aspects of cinema isn’t just watching new films or revisiting old favourites but revisiting films every few years and taking new things from each viewing. James Bridges’ 1979 topical thriller ‘The China Syndrome’ is a film that I’ve enjoyed regularly over the years for its intelligence and genuine tension it provided. […]
Read More Review: The China Syndrome (1979)A couple of years ago I went to a session at a local revival movie theatre and one of the segments was an array of kitschy trailers from decades-old genre films. One of the trailers I saw was for Larry Cohen’s 1985 horror film ‘The Stuff’ (this one) and it was such a silly and […]
Read More REVIEW: THE STUFF (1985)It’s interesting how films lodge in one’s memory when you haven’t watched them in decades. My memories of the 1976 mystery thriller ‘Marathon Man’ were it being a sophisticated, compelling and full of genuinely terrifying scenes. Driving all this was an air of paranoia and distrust of authority common for Hollywood films of that era. […]
Read More Review: Marathon Man (1976)By 1972 Goldie Hawn’s career had reached rapid heights in the space of only a few years. She’d starred in a hugely successful TV series, won an Oscar and was already one of the most popular actresses in a rapidly changing Hollywood. What would her next film role be? If it were today somebody of […]
Read More Review: Butterflies Are Free (1972)At first glance, one would think the 1969 American comedy ‘Cactus Flower’ would be a revered film of its era as it has significant talent associated with it, was a box office success and saw Goldie Hawn win an Oscar for Best Supporting Actress. And yet whenever I’ve come across appraisal of the film over […]
Read More REVIEW: CACTUS FLOWER (1969)Frank Oz’s 1991 film ‘What About Bob?’ has always held fond memories as one of the funniest early 90s Hollywood mainstream comedies, with co-stars Richard Dreyfuss & Bill Murray working especially well together. It had been decades since I’d last watched it and was curious to see how well it held up. Murray plays Bob […]
Read More Review: What About Bob? (1991)Almost 30 years ago Rob Reiner’s version of Stephen King’s book ‘Misery’ was one of the first films I saw as a VHS rental and it left a distinct memory. In part because it was a gripping and memorable film, but mainly for a scene where we see a demonstration of what happened in the […]
Read More Review: Misery (1990)One of the surprise successes of 2017 was the big-screen adaptation of Stephen King’s novel ‘It’. As popular as King’s works have been over the years, this was a novel from the 1980s that had already been made as a popular 1990s TV mini-series so there didn’t seem a prescient desire for another version. However […]
Read More Review: IT Chapter TwoWarning: Contains spoilers Even as we near the end of the 2010s, baby boomer pop music seems to be dominating mainstream cinema more than ever. There have been highly successful biopics of Queen and Elton John and now a fantasy film based entirely around the music of The Beatles. But perhaps The Beatles should be […]
Read More Review: YesterdayThese days I usually try to avoid movie reviews, Rotten Tomatoes ratings and the like before deciding what new release films I want to see. So when I read a brief synopsis for a film called ‘Brightburn’ being released this week – basically a dark flipping of the Superman legend – I was intrigued enough […]
Read More Review: BrightburnWhen Gene Wilder passed away in 2016, accolades were focused on his work with Mel Brooks, Richard Pryor and perhaps most memorably of all, his performance as Willy Wonka. And yet Wilder’s directorial career from 1975 to 1986 was largely ignored, presumably because they were widely perceived as disappointing, pale imitations of his collaborations with […]
Read More Review: The Woman In Red (1984)
Gone Elsewhere 