1970s horror is pretty stupid. I should have realised this but, you know, it’s good to give things a go. Apparently Phantasm is a classic of 70s horror, inspiring many films and directors, including George Lucas. It is set in a small US town where brothers Mike and Tommy occasionally talk to each other. Mike attends the funeral of a friend who was killed by a bare breasted blonde in high heels in a cemetery and at the funeral home, Tommy sees strange things. Continue reading
My friend Jo gave me a link to an article the other day about the ‘elaborately justified misogyny’ of Quentin Tarantino’s The Hateful Eight (The Conversation: The Hateful Eight and Daisy Domergue). It got me thinking about the roles of women in mainstream films and the line between marginalisation and misogyny. It was with this frame of mind that I watched Ex Machina. Continue reading
Should I blog about films that I really don’t recommend? I seem to see quite a few of these and there’s often not much to say other than, “it’s a dog, don’t bother.” I went to see The Intern last night at a proper cinema. I don’t often get to see movies at the cinema when they are first released and I wouldn’t really have picked that particular film but we were near the Kino and The Martian had only front row seats left (and at the Kino that would have meant sitting half way up Matt Damon’s nose) so the only other session about to start was The Intern. Continue reading
Oh Peter, Peter, Peter. Have you changed or have I? I think it’s fitting that I ended the festival with a Peter Greenaway film. I discovered Greenaway films when I was falling in love with cinema back 25 years or so ago.It was fitting also that I walked out on it as I did the first film of the festival. Continue reading
This Australian documentary by war photographer and all round good guy, George Gittoes, could more aptly be titled “I’m George Gittoes and I’m doing really great things for the poor children of Afghanistan.” I’ll say upfront that I don’t really like documentaries where the film maker makes themselves a part of the story. Louis Theroux pulls it off because you can see he is the catalyst for those on the societal margins to feel safe enough to reveal themselves. With others, it often comes across as a vanity project. Continue reading
