Tom Jolliffe looks at Adam Sandler’s successful forays into drama… When you get a name for yourself doing something, it becomes difficult to shake off that label. When Robert De Niro had been so well known as gangsters, maniacs or tough guys, his ventures into comedy were initially surprising. When it comes to Adam Sandler, […]
Is there any life left in the Terminator franchise?
Tom Jolliffe looks at Terminator: Dark Fate and the prospect of further films… James Cameron approaches most of his projects with a certain confident swagger. He is the King of the world after all. When he left the Terminator franchise, with Arnold Schwarzenegger being slowly lowered into cyborg retirement he’d left behind two genre defining […]
Joker: Selective Uproar and a Questionably Timed Rating Plunge
Tom Jolliffe looks at the controversy surrounding Joker and an apparent drop in critic’s ratings in the aftermath… So after a year of furious anticipation and excitement, Joker has finally been released upon the cinematic world. A month or so ago we were looking at what critics were describing as exceptional, a masterpiece, an Oscar […]
The Disturbed Outsider: A Cinematic Pathway Leading to Joker
In the wake of Joker’s success, Tom Jolliffe looks at similar cinematic examples of the disturbed outsider… With a quarter billion in takings and counting, as well as divisive reviews, media attention up the wazoo, and a status (particularly among the 18-30 viewers) as a cinematic masterpiece, Joker’s depiction of disturbed isolation and disconnect from […]
River Phoenix as Joker? Parallel Universe Castings
Tom Jolliffe looks at the idea of River Phoenix as the Joker and other parallel universe castings… It’s 2019. It’s an era of perpetual rebooting. For some, we’d barely settled on the idea that Jared Leto was cast as the clown prince, before it was announced that Joaquin Phoenix would don the make up in […]
The Martin Scorsese/Marvel Debate
Tom Jolliffe on the Martin Scorsese and Marvel debate… One of cinemas greatest living directors, with around 50 years of crafting artistry behind him caused a storm recently with his comments dismissing Marvel films as ‘not cinema’ and ‘theme parks.’ Quite a few fired back (with plenty of politeness it should be said) who have […]
It’s Time to Give the Horror Genre More Respect
As Halloween approaches, Tom Jolliffe looks at the Horror genre, and why it needs more respect… As a movie lover with a wide ranging taste in films I’ve long been fairly open to an array of genres. It was recently though, and perhaps in part this stems from writing a few horror features of late, […]
The Back Alley Scorsese: Abel Ferrara
Tom Jolliffe takes a look at the best work of Abel Ferrara… What with Martin Scorsese and Francis Ford Coppola being so prominent in the press of late, it brought to mind another director who rose into prominence in the wake of the aforementioned legends. Growing up in New York he was learning his trade […]
November 2019: Welcome to Blade Runner
Tom Jolliffe looks back at Blade Runner in the month and year it was set… Remember when 2014 was coming to an end? There was a clamour of snorting giggles as people bemoaned the impending 2015’s lack of self drying clothes, flying cars, hydropizza and hover-boards. Granted, Back to the Future Part II did get […]
Decoding Film: The Hidden Layers in Cinema
Tom Jolliffe looks at film analysis and fan theories. Do we over-analyse films? Cinema is a fascinating medium. A combination of carefully constructed (under the watchful eye of an auteur) visual imagery, combined with performance and sound. Some films have a clear and overriding message. Die Hard is Die Hard. You might pick apart some […]
