Flickering Myth

Geek Culture | Movies, TV, Comic Books & Video Games

The Return of the Raging Boll!

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Tom Jolliffe on the prospect of Uwe Boll returning to the director’s chair… In modern cinema, at a time when mega budget studio films are absorbing most of the finance and the vast majority of cinema exhibition space, there has been a shift in the medium. Cinema started as a place of creative expression, where […]

James Caan’s Finest Hour: Thief

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We look back at the iconic work of the late, great James Caan and take a deep dive into the underrated neo-noir masterpiece Thief, with Caan at his fiery, mesmeric best…  The sad news has broken. Another cinematic icon has left us, leaving behind an awe inspiring legacy. James Caan for a time, was synonymous […]

A Forgotten Sylvester Stallone Gem: Lock Up

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Tom Jolliffe looks back at Lock Up, one of Sylvester Stallone’s less heralded peak era films… 1989. Sylvester Stallone had topped the mountain in the 80’s. It all came to a head in 1985 when Rocky IV and Rambo: First Blood Part II dominated the box office. In today’s world, it was akin to having […]

Who Cares About Spoilers Anymore?

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Tom Jolliffe ponders whether audiences still care about being surprised…  Some spoilers will follow (featuring Obi-Wan, Doctor Strange 2 and Stranger Things)… if you still care… Right now the world eagerly awaits the arrival of Stranger Things Season 4 Volume 2 . We’ve also got through the entire run of the much anticipated Obi-Wan series […]

The Last Champions of Practical Work Over CGI

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Tom Jolliffe looks at cinema’s last stalwarts of practical work over CGI in movies… What does the future hold? Technology is wonderful. Constant evolution brings with it new trends. In cinema, the computer generated image has developed exponentially in the past 30 years. From being something of an eye-catching new toy initially (or garish, nightmarishly […]

Propelled to Greatness by Set Pieces: A Maverick Approach to Action Cinema

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Tom Jolliffe looks at two of the best action films of the last decade, Mad Max: Fury Road and Top Gun: Maverick… There are great films. There are great action films. Attaining greatness through your action amounts to nailing your set pieces and imbuing proceedings, with just enough characterisation to give the propellant action some […]

Cage as Cage, Van Damme as Van Damme: Two Icons Play Their Ultimate Role

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Tom Jolliffe looks at Nic Cage in The Unbearable Weight of Massive Talent, and compares with Jean-Claude Van Damme’s temporarily redefining role as himself in JCVD… April 2022 included a special day for me. It was something of an event. I got to see Nicolas Cage strut his stuff on the big screen. Maybe 10-15 […]

Northman the Barbarian: How Conan Courses Through The Northman

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Tom Jolliffe looks at the similarities between The Northman and Conan the Barbarian. Spoilers follow… After success and masses of acclaim for his small scale masterworks The Witch and The Lighthouse, director Robert Eggers went large scale in his third outing. The Northman is a big budget Viking revenge epic. In every way, it’s the […]

The Art of Ambiguity in Cinema

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Tom Jolliffe looks at the finest in ambiguous cinema, and asks ‘how do you pull it off?’…  Often in the law books of screenwriting there’s a section which might tell the studious aspiring writer that a film must have clarity. Plot threads must lead to resolution. Each act and your central character arcs should be […]