40 years ago this year, somewhere around the 27 October to be precise, I saw Star Wars: A New Hope (then just plain old Star Wars) – to be fair I highly doubt my mother took me to the small one room cinema in Ballina on opening day or Continue Reading
Movies
The hero DCEU doesn’t deserve: Wonder Woman Honest Trailer
Wonder Woman, this year’s superhero smash hit, was a breath of cinematic fresh air. Featuring a kickass female hero who was capable and strong and yet demonstrably human (while, yes, still being a literal god), the film, directed by Patty Jenkins, who now has the gig for Wonder Woman Continue Reading
Radius: Don’t come near me or you’ll die (trailer)
SNAPSHOT Co-directed by filmmakers Caroline Labrèche and Steeve Léonard, Radius is about a guy who wakes up from an accident with no memory and an unfortunate power: if anyone ventures too close to him, they die instantly. (synopsis (c) Gizmodo) With the current deluge of superhero films showing no Continue Reading
Movie review: Film Stars Don’t Die in Liverpool
Society has some weirdly orthodox ideas about love. It should occur between people of roughly the same age, an older man with a younger woman (or man) is fine but the reverse, oddly and misogynistically, is not, and marriage is lauded while living together, though commonly practised, is not. Continue Reading
The John Lewis Christmas ad 2017 is here! And so the festive season begins …
Year after gloriously festive year, the Christmas ads of UK department store John Lewis are that one rare exception to featuring commercial ads on this blog. That’s largely because the ads, while obviously selling something, are far more creative than your usual “Hey we have Christmas stuff! Come and Continue Reading
Weekend pop art: To every letter of the alphabet, a pop culture icon
Now if you’re anything like me (way older than school age), it’s highly likely you haven’t been asked to recite your ABCs or sing the Alphabet Song for quite some time. Which is a pity because two artists, Tom Whalen and Dave Perillo, who recently exhibited their work at Continue Reading
Blade Runner — Constructing a Future Noir #MichaelTucker
SNAPSHOT Blade Runner was the first film to take the deep thematic elements of classic film noirs and put them into a future sci-fi world. This video explores what those elements are, and how they were incorporated. (synopsis (c) Michael Tucker) Blade Runner is rightly hailed as one of Continue Reading
The short and the short of it: The Inksect and the loss of books and freethinking
SNAPSHOT In a dystopian future where fossil fuels were exhausted, ruling corporations had turned to desperate measures to generate energy. Books were banned & confiscated as fuel for the fire, and with them free thinking had been lost. Human beings had morphed into illiterate cockroaches. In New York City Continue Reading
Movie review: Ingrid Goes West
Who are you? I mean, who are you really? Away from the public spotlight, in those quiet moments when it’s just you and your existential angst, and particularly in today’s hyper-connected world, where Facebook and Instagram are temporarily foregone, WHO … ARE … YOU? It’s an intense, penetrating and Continue Reading
Never say no to tamales: Family is forever in final Coco trailer
SNAPSHOT Despite his family’s baffling generations-old ban on music, Miguel (voice of newcomer Anthony Gonzalez) dreams of becoming an accomplished musician like his idol, Ernesto de la Cruz (voice of Benjamin Bratt). Desperate to prove his talent, Miguel finds himself in the stunning and colorful Land of the Dead Continue Reading