Sleuth (1972)

Listening to several interviews with Knives Out director-writer Rian Johnson, he mentioned several influences on his take on the “Whodunnit?” genre (including some very obscure ones like The Last Of Shelia). I’d heard of Sleuth (1972) ever since an old movie book I once read spoiled the ending with its chapter on ‘Classic Movie Deaths’. […]

A Matter Of Life And Death (1946)

SBS OnDemand adding several films by British directors Michael Powell and Emeric Pressburger is a real treat for any lover of cinema, and a great chance for myself to catch up on the titles that I’d not seen. What strikes me, and I’m sure many others, about A Matter Of Life And Death (1946) is […]

The Untamed (2016)

When we held VHS Tracking – Live for the Blue Room Winter Nights, one of my questions to the panellists was “What movie would you use to vet the people in your life?” One of artist Nathan Beard’s choices was The Untamed (2016; La región salvaje) which he described as a “horny movie” and one […]

Hi, Mom! (1970)

A product of its times as well as being a statement on its times, Hi, Mom! (1970) is a free-wheeling satire of middle-class values. A young Robert De Niro plays Jon, a returned Vietnam vet in New Yorl who veers from one obsession to the next, beginning as a budding pornographer who wants to create “Peep […]

They Shoot Horses, Don’t They? (1969)

Dance marathons were competitions held in the depression-era America for couples to potentially win big money if they went the distance and remained on their feet for days and days and days. With some competitions going beyond 1,000 hours with minimal breaks for food and sleep, this utter exhaustion was spectacle for the watching crowds, […]