American Gigolo: What’s Behind The Mask?

With Paul Schrader’s The Card Counter set to get its theatrical release here in the UK on the 5th of November, marking the return of the giant after 2017’s First Reformed, is it not surely time to return to one of his most underrated, cult classics? Clear the floor people: here comes American Gigolo. The

One Flew Over The Cuckoo’s Nest: Uplifting, Disheartening And Just About Everything In Between

SPOILERS! Everyone knows that the ’70s were the greatest decade for cinema. It’s an undeniable fact: The Godfather, I and II; Apocalypse Now; Taxi Driver; Chinatown; The Conversation; The Deer Hunter; The French Connection – and that’s just to name a few of the very best. So where does One Flew Over The Cuckoo’s Nest

Quiz: Mask Up!

Yes, a mask quiz still feels timely – global pandemic, people! I won’t waste your time, and just tell the singular rule: guess what film the picture comes from. Easy as that! Anyway, here are the answers from last week’s mirror (and reflections) quiz… ANSWERS: Joker Enter The Dragon Taxi Driver Raging Bull The Shining

Apocalypse Now Is Not About Vietnam. It Is Vietnam

War. Is there anything more harrowing, more destructive, more dehumanising? Probably not. So it’s certainly not much of a surprise that it’s been constantly replicated throughout cinema, across plenty of genres, from Kubrick’s Full Metal Jacket and Paths of Glory, to black satires Catch-22 and M*A*S*H, to monumental classics A Bridge Too Far and The

The Maltese Falcon: The Proud Parent Of Huston, Bogart And Noir

In my Treasure of the Sierra Madre review, I remarked upon the incredible age of the classic, which, at the time of writing, clocked in at 73 senior, but still felt as contemporary as ever. Here, two of it’s cinematic legends in Humphrey Bogart and John Huston return with The Maltese Falcon, and can go

A Very, Very Short Review: The Sound Of Metal

Originally, I wasn’t going to review The Sound of Metal, but – wow. It’s not half bad, so I felt I had to give it the service it deserves. Of course, I’m a little late to the party here, but of an inferior pack of films up for the 2021 Oscars, The Sound of Metal

Full Metal Jacket: Born To Kill

Kubrick continues! Crazily, the last film of his reviewed on the blog was back in July with Dr. Strangelove, so it’s welcome to see him return – interestingly, there are some similarities between his 1964 nuclear doomsday satire and Full Metal Jacket, but we’ll get to that soon… The 1987 film focuses on a pragmatic

Quiz: Mirror, Mirror, On The Wall…

…Who’s the greatest quizmaster of them all? Aw, thank you! You’re too kind- Oh, hello there! Welcome to the 12th edition of the Over-The-Shoulder quiz! Apologies for the mix up in the posting – it became apparent to me earlier this morning that I wouldn’t be able to get out the film review today. But

Brazil: The Absurdity Of Oppression

SPOILERS! What the hell has happened? I myself am a man strongly averse to sci-fi ever since the innocent first days of my life – and proud of it ever since. Now look at the blog: Arrival, Children of Men, Invasion of the Body Snatchers, even The Prestige! And it’s not stopped yet, because here

The Treasure Of The Sierra Madre: Potently Prospecting Paranoia

Stephen King. Alice Cooper. Hillary Clinton. Richard Dreyfuss. Jean Reno. What do these people all have in common? They’re all 73 years old. And do you know who else is? That’s right: The Treasure of the Sierra Madre. The 1948 Warner Bros film follows two destitute Americans, the paranoid and temperamental Dobbs (Humphrey Bogart) and