Caddyshack (1980)
A perenial feature of any “great” comedy list, Caddyshack features a cast of 1980′s comedy legends. At the forefront of this herd of clowns and comedians is Bill Murray, in the role that really made his name. His turn as the psychopathic gopher chaser Carl Spackler is ingrained in movie-comedy lore, and truly is a … Read more
The Rainmaker (1997)
Apologies ladies and gentlemen, for I am playing catch up today. I’ve had an oddly busy week (yet without any due reason) so have got a couple of pieces to write up on. The first is Francis Ford Coppola’s under-rated court-thriller, his final piece before the decade long tenure that ended with 2007′s Youth Without … Read more
Drag Me To Hell (2009)
Sam Raimi returns to the genre that made him famous, the low budget horror flick. The story of an ordinary young woman under the spell of a gypsy curse, the rather simple outline leaves plenty of room for the sort of horror shocks and twists that are largely missing from such of modern American origins. … Read more
The Wages of Fear (1953)
Having never seen a film by the man dubbed the French Hitchcock I decided to start with Henri-Georges Clouzot’s most famous and popular work, The Wages of Fear. The story of a group of unemployed immigrants living in South America, The Wages of Fear slots in somewhere alongside the likes of John Huston’s The Treasure of … Read more
North By Northwest (1959)
The most prominent feature from his stint at Warner’s, Alfred Hitchcock’s North By Northwest is an enjoyable chase-ground thriller. Cary Grant leads as Roger Thornhill, the Madison Avenue advertising executive (a “madman” if you will) caught up in something far bigger than he ever imagined. James Mason provides credible support as Vandamm, a villain every … Read more
Vertigo (1958)
The film that many would deem Hitchcock’s most accomplished feature, the James Stewart starring Vertigo remains a great piece of cinema. In the past the film has alluded me greatly, the slow pace of the plot and the relatively small scope of the story seemed a tad dull to me in my younger years, but … Read more
Thoughts on the Cannes 2009 winners
I have never really enamoured myself to Michael Haneke. Don’t get me wrong, I adore Hidden (Cache), and while Funny Games is interesting enough I feel the condescending tone emitted towards its audience is a major issue. I haven’t seen much else of his work and have no great desire to, so it is with … Read more
The 400 Blows (1959)
With gracious thanks to the BFI the opportunity to see The 400 Blows screened theatrically cropped up this evening, in honour of the films 50th anniversary. I have seen the film innumerable times, in fact its currently in second position on the Hope Lies List, and was previously looked at on Hope Lies HERE, yet … Read more
Darkman 3 : Die Darkman, Die (1996)
Jeff Fahey replaces series stalwart Larry Drake in the “gangster” role in this second sequel to Sam Raimi’s hugely impressive Superhero-come-universal monster homage. Arnold Vosloo reprises the Darkman role, and is again rather effective, alas the production values (or lack thereof) and the substandard supporting roles do little to help project this from the made … Read more
La Gueule Ouverte (1974)
Maurice Pialat is a largely unknown commodity of French cinema. His work is reaching larger audiences at the moment due to a project by the Masters of Cinema line, in which they have decided to put 6 of his films out over the course of a year or so. La Gueule Ouverte is the third … Read more
