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 […]
Can we please stop the de-aging and CGI resurrection fascination?
Tom Jolliffe looks at the current fascination with de-aging and digital resurrections… There have been plenty of annoying movie trends in Hollywood over the years. They tend to come and go. 3D was a novelty that didn’t quite work in the 80’s, which was more recently revolutionised by James Cameron (after another brief period of […]
After Hours: Scorsese’s oft overlooked Theme Park experience
Tom Jolliffe looks back at After Hours, Scorsese’s own theme park ride… Martin Scorsese is firmly in the limelight right now. Not only has Marty recently celebrated a birthday, with which (in cinema circles) brings about career retrospection, but he has a brand new film coming out soon (you may have heard of it…The Irishman). […]
Revisiting the Cinematic Landscape of 1999
Tom Jolliffe travels back in time 20 years to 1999 to look over the cinematic landscape… The millennium suddenly draws in. The century is in its final year. Cinema has a pre-occupation with apocalypse and disorder, chaos, among other things. It’s 1999. 20 years ago. That’s pretty frightening, but regardless, hold my hand, lets go […]
