Category Archives: The Things We Do
#6 A Clockwork Orange – Finnegans Wake on Acid
Let’s be honest: there’s nothing all that violent about the supposed ‘ultraviolence’ in Kubrick’s A Clockwork Orange. With all the furore surrounding its release in the ’70s the film’s become infamous for its scenes of rape and abuse. But frankly, the violence seems kitsch in comparison with today’s offerings. This […]
#5 Natural Born Killers – Bursting The Postmodern Bubble.
How can I begin to dissect a film the point of which is to be fragmented? Ordinarily, my task after watching a film would be to rip into it and see what spills out. But as a blatantly postmodern effort Natural Born Killers requires more piecing together than pulling apart. […]
#4 Taxi Driver – The Last Stand Of Billy No-Mates.
Interesting that the oft quoted line “You talkin’ to me?” should be so ironic. Fact is no one’s talking to De Niro’s warped Don Quixote. As he drives about the city tilting at windmills (or more specifically shooting pimps), we experience his intense isolation. His profession is a brilliant device: […]
#3 Kes – It’s grim up North.
I am very Southern. I’m one of those who gets misty-eyed over the Jerome K Jerome image of England: men in boaters punting and exclaiming things like “jolly good show”. I’m a sucker for Merchant Ivory and I’m a generation too late to appreciate quite why Thatcher is the devil […]
#2 The Green Mile – Killing Time.
“I think about all of us. Walking our own Green Mile, each in our own time.” The worst nightmare I ever had came when I was fifteen. After a lethal injection was mistakenly dispensed into my arm I had an agonizing half hour of dawning realisation to live through whilst […]
#1 Alien – My Encounter with the Little Green Men.
So as you might have noticed we’re theme-blogging this month. The week’s theme being green I figured little green men would be a safe bet. Turns out – and here comes the first gem of useful information – the alien ISN’T GREEN. Now, I’m pretty afraid of writing about Alien […]
Classic Films I’ve Never Seen
Everyone knows there are certain films we “should” see. Some of them are probably great. Some of them might even be masterpieces (whatever that means). And some of them are probably crap. Then again, some of them are masterpieces of crap. Though, I suspect, an equal number are crap masquerading […]
