Category Archives: The Speakeasy
Marley: Music, Marijuana and Meaning
As lead singer and rhythm guitarist for reggae band Bob Marley & the Wailers, Bob Marley became a figurehead for both Jamaican music and the Rastafari movement. Directed by Kevin Macdonald, this linear documentary details his origins, charts his success and mourns his tragic death through a blend of archive […]
Moneyball: Worth Versus Value
A rather sober title to this week’s blog, as if I’m about to ask “What’s it all for?” No, not where I’m going thankfully. Having seen Moneyball this week, a film in which the plot is so occupied with sport (always my last choice in Million Pound Drop categories), I […]
Photo-Artist Mohamed Nabil
I was lucky enough this week to interview Mohamed Nabil, an Egypian photographer and artist, living, as I do, in Cardiff. His attitude to his work is that of describing his hobby, and as a result, he has an inspiring attitude to work, dedication and making a difference in the […]
‘Delicacy’… Or ‘How to date a guy in a sensible amount of time’?
I am one of the scores of cinema-goers who sees a new release if it features one of their favourite actors or actresses. It’s totally against everything I stand for in the world of cinema, that a film is ‘sold’ to it’s audience on the biggest, most well-known and expensive […]
Happy Hunger Games!
Sounds not unlike an Easter weekend spent smoothing the foil from chocolate eggs doesn’t it? But ‘The Hunger Games’ is, well-known to book-lovers, the latest film dramatisation from a hugely popular novel, this time by Suzanne Collins. The novel is part of a series, which judging by the box-office results, […]
Ryan… More interesting in a box.
For me, Ryan Reynolds is perpetually Van Wilder, playing pretty similar characters in a lot of films of similar type. The same went for Sandra Bullock until ‘The Blind Side’, which I loved and felt she embodied a totally new character I’d never seen in her previously. (If you haven’t […]
‘Bill Cunningham New York’
Just as Vogue editor Anna Wintour says ‘We all get dressed for Bill’, not doubt Bill Cunningham is simultaneously out on his bicycle, cheerfully taking photos of the best dressed in the Big City. This affectionate documentary film is centred around the life and work of 84-year-old Bill Cunningham, veteran […]
Beautiful, Bonkers, Burton.
The Disney classic ‘Alice in Wonderland’ is a childhood favourite of mine, as well as Lewis Carroll’s book novel, so when this week I embarked on watching the 3D, Tim Burton, CGI, all-singing-all-dancing 2010 version, I did so with a little trepidation. But in finding that the Burton team didn’t […]
Has positivity gone out of fashion?
As you can expect I’m an avid cinema-goer, and while I have favourite genres, excitement takes hold when I watch a new release on a subject I’ve never explored before, mostly because I’m looking forward to being absorbed in another place, learning something new and being inspired. Devoting your time […]
The Blog about the Making of the Making of Psycho
Now hailed as one of the greatest pieces of film in cinematic history, in particular the infamous shower scene, Psycho is also one of my favourite films, and one whose mention always draws my attention. I’m a little sentimental about it, as it was one of the first I studied […]
