In the the final instalment of our action A-Z, Tom Jolliffe presents a selection of action movies beginning with W-Z… After a brief October hiatus, the A-Z of action returns. There’s not enough room in the month of horror for all those ‘splosions and cheesy one liners. It’s been a long journey, covering a gamut […]
Scorsese: An all time great, and still one of the best in the business
As Martin Scorsese turns 79, Tom Jolliffe looks back on his astounding career so far… He’s been known to give master-classes in film-making. He’s also a deeply passionate cinephile. Martin Scorsese knows film. In fact he knows film so well, that comments comparing Marvel films to theme park rides courted him some controversy last year. […]
Modern Mainstream Film: Passable and Disposable?
Tom Jolliffe looks at modern mainstream cinema. Is it being led by disposable content over long-standing legacy? The pace at which the world evolves can be frightening sometimes. You blink, suddenly you look around and you’re 40, you’ve got a house, wife, kid and you make groaning noises when you bend down to pick something […]
Back to 2011: Ten Essential Movies from Ten Years Ago
Tom Jolliffe looks back 10 years to 2011, offering up ten essential films from the year… I’m almost dumbstruck by the fact that we’re now 10 years from 2011. To me, 2011 is the future. I’m still stuck somewhere in 2004. How in the hell are there 21 year olds born this century now? Still, […]
Back to 2001: Ten Essential Movies from Twenty Years Ago
Tom Jolliffe ventures back 20 years to 2001 and offers up 10 essential films from that year… It’s a little bit frightening but 20 years ago we had become well ensconced in the 21st century. The first apocalypse had been averted and we were slowly ambling toward 2012 hoping the Mayans were wrong (spoiler alert, […]
Running Scared vs Running Scared
Tom Jolliffe looks back at two films with the same title, Running Scared (1986 and 2006)… 2021 brought with it several significant anniversaries. Interestingly though it brought significant anniversaries to two somewhat underappreciated films that share the same title. First of all we have Running Scared, the Peter Hyams helmed action comedy from 1986. That […]
Ridley Scott: All Guns Blazing
Tom Jolliffe looks at Ridley Scott’s recent tirade against Marvel and Millennials after the box office failure of The Last Duel… It should have been simple right? Ridley Scott delivers a film for Fox (and in essence through Disney) that is heaving with star power. Matt Damon is A-list, if not box office certified predominantly […]
The Art of Giving Film Recommendations
Tom Jolliffe on the art of giving film recommendations… You’ve got to see The Matrix! You have to! It’s 1999, and there’s a distinct transition between the recommender of The Matrix as being ahead of the curve, to a couple of months down the line when such a recommendation is lost in a cacophony of […]
1991: The Year in Action Movies
Tom Jolliffe ventures back 30 years to a year well stocked in action films… Upon revisiting the cinematic landscape of 1991 recently, I noticed something that tickled my nostalgia no end. The year was chock full of action films, with a large number of films packing audiences in cinemas and a number also keeping video […]
The Multiverse Era: When a Cinematic Universe Isn’t Enough
Tom Jolliffe on the current preoccupation with the multiverse… Cinema is all about cycles. Genres flit in and out of prominence. An action landscape which was once dominated by Westerns was then temporarily displaced by gangster films, then epics, then Westerns again, then a brief parley into pessimistic cinema, before Star Wars laid a significant […]
