It’s October so we’re now officially into the Halloween Build-up! Each Monday I’m going to post horror related content, and this week we’re looking at classic horror movies! There are various arguments about what year ‘modern horror’ begins, which will be another post for another time, but for this post I’m going with the 1968 cut off point. […]
cinema discussions
Paying tribute to Sir Christopher Lee
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 […]
Bringing Spectacle back to Cinema
Ever since television became the must-have gadget in every living room, cinemas have been trying to devise ways to bring audiences back into theatres. They’ve tried Cinemascope, 3D (several times), surround sound, and IMAX screens, always peddling the idea that cinema gives you “the experience”, something you can’t quite capture with television. Even watching a widescreen […]
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, […]
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 […]
