All That Heaven Allows (1955)

Seeing the doco series, A Personal Journey with Martin Scorsese through American Movies, on ABC when I was a teenager was the kind of uber-text that sets you up with a list of references, of movies to one day track down and understand why they meant so much to Marty and his enthusiastic testifying. In […]

Truck Turner (1974)

Truck Turner (1974) is as supercharged and rollicking a film as the pumping score provided by star Isaac Hayes. Not just content with winning the Oscar for the ‘Theme to Shaft’ and establishing the sound of what would be termed Blaxploitation, Hayes decided to try acting as well. As the title character, a former football […]

Je Tu Il Elle (1974)

One haunting image from the film, Je Tu Il Elle (1974; I You He She), is when Julie, the young woman played by the director, Chantal Akerman, has shifted furniture out of her ground floor apartment, and has moved her bed against the wall. Sitting against an alcove in the corner of the room, near […]

The Hitch-Hiker (1953)

It’s all a matter of time. You hear about a film, you see it pop up (particularly if it’s in the public domain – so everywhere, public access TV, crappy DVDs, free on YouTube), and know that at some point you’ll eventually see it. The Hitch-Hiker (1953) was always beckoning on the side of the […]

Videodrome (1983)

VHS tape might be an antiquated medium but writer-director David Cronenberg’s sick idea to fuse it with flesh ensures Videodrome (1983) has a long shelf-life as a body-horror sci-fi cult classic. Even if the technology featured is dated, from VCRs to cathode tube TVs to cable satellite dishes, the cold eroticism and sick intrigue of […]