THE BRUTAL TRUTH: Steve McQueen’s 12 Years a Slave (2013)

On Sunday many will be glued to their television sets watching the annual Oscar ceremony unfold. At this time of year I tend to contemplate all the new releases I’ve seen in the past 12 months and linger over the films that have captured my imagination, awed me, inspired me, or just made me think …

Six Irish Tales of Terror & Imagination

Many of my favorite horror and fantasy books are short story collections or compact novelettes. Some excellent examples of this include Irish author Sheridan Le Fanu’s In a Glass Darkly, which contains his chilling vampire tale Carmilla among other fright-filled stories or Oscar Wilde’s classic The Picture of Dorian Gray that runs a mere 175 pages (give or …

My Favorite Films of 2017

I contributed a list of my 20 Favorite Films seen in 2017 to the annual Senses of Cinema World Poll in the form of an illustration scanned & cleaned up in Photoshop. I wanted to have fun with the process this year and didn't feel much like writing about all the films on my list …

The Return of Modern Mondays

I've been inspired to write brief bits about some of the new films I've seen recently. I normally post my thoughts on Letterboxd but thought I'd start compiling them here every month or so depending on how much I write and if I have anything worthwhile to say. Breathe (2015) The worst bullies I've encountered …

Favorite Films & Performances of 2014

* IMPORTANT: Before you read any further please remember that ALL films, directors, actors, etc. are listed ALPHABETICALLY on my LISTS and BALLOTS and not in order of favoritism/status. * Today the Oscar nominations were announced and it seems like a good time to share my 15 Favorite Films of 2014, which I recently posted …

June & July at the Movie Morlocks

I haven't been online much the last few months for a number of reasons. First and foremost, I've been having some medical problems with my left eye and spending lots of time on my computer reading, watching vids and writing can often be problematic. My eyes get easily irritated and I'm prone to headaches, etc. …

Girls Gone Very, Very Bad

Addendum #2 to my list of Top 10 Favorite Films of 2013. . . James Franco’s pitiful mating call battle cry from Harmony Korine’s SPRING BREAKERS (“Look at all my shiiiiiit!”) became a sinister mantra that echoed through many films in 2013 including Sophia Coppola’s THE BLING RING, Woody Allen’s BLUE JASMINE and Martin Scorsese’s …

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 …

Prometheus Unbound: Ridley Scott & Me

How much did I love Ridley Scott's ALIEN (1979) after seeing it at the tender age of 11? Too much. The commercials for ALIEN terrified me and the film's tagline ("In Space No One Can Hear You Scream") sent unprecedented chills down my spine but I was determined to see it. I can't remember how …

Ben Wheatley’s KILL LIST (2011)

If you happen to keep track of my activities at MUBI.com you might have noticed that I shared a list of my 'Top 10 Favorite Films of 2011' there. The list is alphabetical but if I rated the film's from best to worst, Ben Wheatley's KILL LIST (2011) would fill the top spot...

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 …

A Decade of Fear

It's taken me a year but I've finally managed to compile a list of my Favorite Films of the Decade: 2000-2009 so I thought I'd share it. My introduction echoes some earlier thoughts about fear and cinema that I shared during Halloween and wanted to expand upon. Besides my alphabetical list of Favorite Films of …

A Look Back at 2009

2009 was an interesting year here at Cinebeats. It was the first year that I wrote about films made after 1979 and my blog traffic rose considerably because of it. While I appreciated the interest in my "Modern Monday" posts, I'm not planning on continuing with them in 2010. I do plan on sharing a …

Modern Mondays: Gus Van Sant’s “Death Trilogy” 2002-2005

"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 …

Modern Mondays: OSS 117: Cairo, Nest of Spies (2006)

If you've been reading Cinebeats for awhile you're probably well aware of my fascination and fondness for spies. From the smart and exceptional Prisoner to the ridiculously silly Last of the Secret Agents?, I never seem to get tired of watching spy movies or television shows as long as they have a good soundtrack accompanying …