“I know of no elite and no tribunal which can take upon itself to judge what a film will unleash in its immeasurable course. The only jurisdiction to which a film should be subject concerns its style and its expressive power. The rest is a mystery and will always remain so.” – Jean Cocteau My … Continue reading »
Dame Diana Rigg in THEATRE OF BLOOD (1973) Last week I compiled a lengthy list of some of the most interesting examples of female actors who have portrayed men (or dressed in male clothing) for a particular role at the Movie Morlocks. It was inspired by the recent Oscar nominations for Glenn Close and her … Continue reading »
As a teenager growing up in the ’80s it was impossible to overlook Derek Jarman’s work. He was all over MTV. He was part of a group of British filmmakers that included Julien Temple and Alex Cox who made music videos or music inspired films that seemed particularly in-sync with their times. Jarman’s work was interesting, experimental and demanding of its audience but I appreciated the challenges he presented. Continue reading »
Mod Macabre continues over at The Movie Morlocks today where I take a look at Narciso Ibáñez Serrador’s horrific thriller The House That Screamed (1969) featuring a great cast that includes Lilli Palmer, Cristina Galbo, Mary Maude and mod wonder boy, John-Moulder Brown. Here’s a brief description of The House That Screamed from my post: … Continue reading »
Top: Sue Lyon in Murder in a Blue World (1973) Bottom: Sue Lyon in Lolita (1961) From my latest post at The Movie Morlocks: One of the most iconic images to emerge from the cinema in the 1960s is the figure of a young Sue Lyon, peering over her sunglasses at a leering James Mason … Continue reading »
“Histories, like ancient ruins, are the fictions of empire. While everything forgotten hangs in dark dreams of the past, ever threatening to return.” – from Velvet Goldmine (1998) When Velvet Goldmine was originally released in 1998 it confused and frustrated a lot of critics who were turned off by its uninhibited style, hyper editing, abundant … Continue reading »
Sascha Brastoff as Carmen Miranda in Winged Victory (1944) From my latest post at the Movie Morlocks… “I love to explore local antique shops and visit flea markets when I’m not watching movies. As a new homeowner I’m always on the lookout for good deals on vintage furniture and as a collector I enjoy hunting … Continue reading »
It’s a rare occurrence when I come across a movie I’ve never heard of before or seen. Such is the case with John Mackenzie’s Unman, Wittering and Zigo (1971). I sought the movie out because the title was intriguing and it caught my attention when I was scanning David Hemmings’ filmography on IMBD. After hunting … Continue reading »
Pierre Clémenti in Listen, Let’s Make Love (1967) Regular Cinebeats’ readers are undoubtedly familiar with my fascination with the French actor and filmmaker Pierre Clémenti. I’ve written about him enough that he’s earned his own blog category so you can imagine my surprise when I came across one of the little seen films that he … Continue reading »
Tomorrow night TCM Underground will be airing one of my favorite films, Donald Cammell and Nicolas Roeg’s Performance (1970) starring The Rolling Stones’ frontman Mick Jagger. I’ve spent a lot of time writing and thinking about Performance but I couldn’t resist the opportunity to express my affection for the movie again. In a post that … Continue reading »
“Ours is a culture notoriously uncomfortable with death. We’ve minimized and sterilized our rituals for processing it; we pack it away in Styrofoam and plastic wrap at the grocery store; we worship our children and pour our resources into the fantasy of postponing old age. Yet it courses into our collective consciousness with renewed insistence … Continue reading »
All summer long Turner Classic Movies is celebrating various actors with their ongoing “Summer Under the Stars” series. But August 10th is truly something to celebrate. Today TCM will be running films that feature one of my all-time favorite actors, the extraordinarily talented and incredibly handsome Dirk Bogarde. This would be worthy of mention no … Continue reading »
When I first mentioned that I was going to start “Modern Mondays” at Cinebeats I briefly discussed how much I liked musicals so I thought I’d share a few thoughts about the best musical I’ve seen in recent years, Love Songs (aka Les chansons d’amour; 2007). Love Songs was directed by the talented French filmmaker … Continue reading »
Shane Briant in Straight on Till Morning (1972) The talented British’ born actor Shane Briant made his screen debut in the Hammer horror film Demons of the Mind. Since then he’s gone on to appear in over 60 films and television productions including Straight On Till Morning (1972), The Picture of Dorian Gray (1973), The … Continue reading »
David Bowie in the ’60s It’s impossible to put into words the impact that David Bowie’s music has had on me throughout the years, but there probably isn’t another living music artist who I admire more. I started listening to Bowie’s music when I was just 12 years old and one of my earliest concert … Continue reading »
