Continuing our look back at groundbreaking films of cinema, Tom Jolliffe discusses The Passion of Joan of Arc by Carl Theodor Dreyer… One of the most influential directors in cinema, Carl Theodor Dreyer had a complicated relationship with film. Somewhat prolific during the silent era, he made a number of iconic films including Vampyr. Having […]
The American Friend: Four masters who created the ultimate Tom Ripley adaptation
Tom Jolliffe takes a look back at a classic neo-noir, The American Friend which saw four legends of cinema combine to create the greatest Tom Ripley adaptation… Lovers of cinemas literary adaptations may be familiar with the Tom Ripley series. Patricia Highsmith’s crime novels on the titular Ripley proved immensely popular and inevitably lead to […]
How Schwarzenegger Reigned Supreme in the Action Genre
As Arnold Schwarzenegger turns 73, Tom Jolliffe looks back at the period where the Austrian Oak ruled action cinema, with an eye for quality material… As Arnold Schwarzenegger turns another year older, now would be a good time to look back to an era of global box office domination, and cult appeal in the action […]
Films That Leave You Speechless
Tom Jolliffe on films that leave you speechless… Spoilers ahead. Cinema can enthral, entertain, amuse, and terrify. You finish a film and you ordinarily have an idea of your feelings on it, or said film will help you wind down with a denouement before the credits roll. Sometimes though, a film finishes and you’re left […]
Ten Essential Buddy Films
Tom Jolliffe offers up ten essential buddy films… Reluctant partners, thrust together. Chalk and cheese, a differing approach to attaining the end goal, or perhaps sometimes from opposite sides of the law. The buddy film genre has been popular for decades. Some writer/directors in fact have a real association with it (see later). It’s a […]
Is it time to retire James Bond?
With rumours of Daniel Craig’s replacement persisting for years, Tom Jolliffe wonders if James Bond has had his day… With some uncertainty still looming over the release of Daniel Craig’s (supposedly) final fling as James Bond, rumours continue to persist about his eventual replacement. It would of course be folly to announce the next Bond […]
Alan Parker: One of Britain’s Greatest Directors
Tom Jolliffe celebrates the career of the late Alan Parker, one of the finest directors to come out of Britain… It was saddening to hear of Alan Parker’s passing. He was a director with a number of iconic and essential cinematic works on his CV. In fact it’s a CV littered with so much quality […]
Akira Kurosawa’s Police Procedural Films
Tom Jolliffe looks at two classic crime thrillers from Akira Kurosawa, Stray Dog and High and Low… His reputation precedes him. Akira Kurosawa is one of the greatest directors of all time. A master of cinema, who took a degree of influence from old Hollywood gangster films and Westerns and refined them in his own […]
Movie Review – Legacy of Lies (2020)
Legacy of Lies, 2020. Directed by Adrian Bol. Starring Scott Adkins, Honor Kneafsey, Andrea Vasilou, Yuliia Sobol and Anna Butkevich. SYNOPSIS: An ex-MI6 agent is thrown back into the world of espionage and high stakes to uncover the shocking truth about operations conducted by unknown secret services. The main man of action, Scott Adkins, returns with […]
10 Essential Creature Features
Tom Jolliffe offers up 10 essential creature features… Who doesn’t love a good old creature feature? They still seem to be immensely popular, with recent reboots for the Jurassic Park and Godzilla franchises. That popularity in fact has been booming in the Asian markets in particular (whilst some of the recent big monster films have […]
