Maps To The Stars (2014)

“Please. No film noir questions.” Maps To The Stars (2014) fits into the sub-genre of Hollywood noir or neo-noir rather, a descendant of Sunset Boulevard’s scathing look at the film industry, wrapped up in murder, gothic imagery, grotesqueries, and sardonic comedy. David Cronenberg’s film, the first he shot in Los Angeles, and working with a […]

Buzzard (2014)

Heavy metal music blaring and a freak out over a busted Nintendo power glove, this is the first scene of dark indie comedy, Buzzard (2014), one of the several collaborations between Michigan based director Joel Potrykus and star Joshua Burge. I loved their last film together from 2018, the surreal Relaxer, and I was keen […]

Sullivan’s Travels (1941)

Another classic film watch based on crossing off the titles listed in Danny Peary’s Cult Movies 2, his selections that I had not seen. Sullivan’s Travels (1941) was always something I’d heard was good – directed and written by the screwball comedy master Preston Sturges (I’ve only seen The Lady Eve and that is one […]

Dead Pigeon On Beethoven Street (1972)

I always loved the use of Can’s ‘Vitamin C’ in Paul Thomas Anderson’s Inherent Vice, but you know who used it first in a private eye flick way back in the 1970s? Samuel Fuller did, shooting an episode of a German crime TV anthology in West Germany (called Tartot) and spinning that into his own […]

To Be Or Not To Be (1942)

A very influential book for me about movies growing up was Danny Peary’s Cult Movies 2, which I found a graffitied copy of in the school library. In it, Peary writes about fifty cult movies, the images of which I couldn’t forget from the book and led me to seeking out absolute favourites (The American […]