Last week, cinema lost a figure who could legitimately lay claim to the title of ‘legend’. Sir Christopher Lee was one of my favourite actors and I wasn’t originally going to blog about his passing. However, I changed my mind because yesterday I watched the BBC 4 edition of Timeshift about Sherlock Holmes, and it […]
Cinema
Good Sci Fi Gets At The Truth
I had a rather sci-fi themed weekend, going to see Blade Runner: The Final Cut and Metropolis on Friday and Saturday respectively. They’re a pair of films that work exceptionally well as a double bill, exploring the representation of the future, the infiltration of humanity by robotic technology, and of the city. On the surface, […]
The Lost Art of Subtlety in Supernatural Horror
I went to see The Woman in Black: Angel of Death on Friday, having been so impressed by its 2012 predecessor starring Daniel Radcliffe, and I have to say…this sequel encapsulates just what is wrong with contemporary supernatural horror in the cinema. I’ve seen a lot of it – I have to, since my thesis […]
Night Will Fall: The importance of documentary
As a Film Studies academic, I often feel called upon to defend the study of something as seemingly frivolous as cinema. People hear I’m doing a PhD, and eagerly enquire as to the topic. The moment I say “Film Studies” I see the same disappointed expression, and hear the same “Oh. Well as long as you […]
How much has cinema changed since 1914?
I’ve been a lover of cinema for as long as I can remember – as artform, vehicle for documentary and purveyor of entertainment, it’s certainly a versatile medium, and one that does, and should, go beyond the confines of CGI and big star names. So when I saw that my local independent cinema, the Tyneside, was showing A […]
#FilmReview – Maleficent
Maleficent has long been a favourite cinematic character of mine, as well as my favourite Disney character, and I was originally dismayed to learn that she was to be given her own film. I was even more dubious after the Wicked Witch of the West was so utterly ruined by Oz the Great and Powerful […]
