It's been an interesting, busy and to be honest, an extremely stressful year due to some ongoing medical issues I'm dealing with that you can read more about here: Vertigo: Hitchcock was wrong. In turn, I've been terribly lax about updating the blog but due to looming work related developments that I'll be sharing soon, … Continue reading Six Months of Movie Morlocks: May – Oct. 2016
Celebrating Gay Pride
As a film journalist I have often tried to focus my attention on underappreciated films, actors and directors. Unsurprisingly, this has led me to write about a number of gay/LGBT films as well as gay/LGBT filmmakers and actors. So in celebration of Gay Pride weekend and the Supreme Court decision that now makes gay-marriage a … Continue reading Celebrating Gay Pride
2013 at the Movie Morlocks
Jess Franco 1930-2013 What follows is a collection of links to some of my posts at TCM's Movie Morlocks from 2013. These are (in my estimation) the best and most interesting articles I wrote last year but you can read my entire output for 2013 at the Movie Morlocks if you peruse the archives. From … Continue reading 2013 at the Movie Morlocks
Dirk Bogarde – The Reluctant International Man of Mystery
In my latest installment of Spy Games for the Movie Morlocks I discuss the spy spoofs and espionage thrillers starring one of my favorite actors, the gifted and gorgeous Dirk Bogarde.
“A film is a petrified fountain of thought.” – Jean Cocteau
"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 “A film is a petrified fountain of thought.” – Jean Cocteau
Girls WIll Be Boys
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 Girls WIll Be Boys
Girls Will Be Boys
Two of the most intriguing performances that were nominated for an Oscar this year can be found in ALBERT NOBBS (2011). In the film, Glenn Close and Janet McTeer play women who decide to dress as men in order to find work in 19th century Dublin. I haven’t had a chance to see the film yet but while I … Continue reading Girls Will Be Boys
Radical Shakespeare: The Alchemy of Derek Jarman’s “The Tempest”
The Tempest (1979) was Derek Jarman’s third feature-length film and it’s arguably one of his most accessible. In some ways it’s a rather traditional retelling of Shakespeare’s classic play about an aging magician named Prospero (Heathcote Williams) who is imprisoned on an island with his beautiful daughter Miranda (Toyah Willcox) and a beast called Caliban … Continue reading Radical Shakespeare: The Alchemy of Derek Jarman’s “The Tempest”
Derek Jarman: An Appreciation
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.
The House That Screamed… “Murder!”
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 The House That Screamed… “Murder!”
Reinventing Lolita
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 Reinventing Lolita
Velvet Goldmine: Celluloid Pictures of Living
"Histories, like ancient ruins, are the fictions of empire. While everything forgotten hangs in dark dreams of the past, ever threatening to return.” - Todd Haynes, Velvet Goldmine 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 Velvet Goldmine: Celluloid Pictures of Living
