Tag Archives: cinema
Jodie Foster on why The Silence of The Lambs is a perfect film
I recently wrote about why the 1990s was such an amazing time to be a young woman. Jodie Foster confirmed the sense of a breakthrough at a screening of The Silence of The Lambs on Friday night at the BFI … Continue reading
Posted in Crime and Justice, Film
Tagged 90s, anthony hopkins, bfi, cinema, feminism, film, Hollywood, jodie foster, jonathan demme, the silence of the lambs
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How to win the coming culture war in 2017
A version of this article first appeared in The Big Issue magazine in January 2017. Journalism worth paying for. Available weekly from street vendors or subscriptions here. History rarely falls into neat numerical decades. I would assert the 1980s (yuppies, … Continue reading
Posted in Books, Comics/graphic novels, Culture, Film, Media, Music, Politics, Radio, Science Fiction/Fantasy, Theatre, TV, Uncategorized
Tagged ali smith, BIG ISSUE, books, cinema, culture, culture war, Disney, dr quinn medicine woman, dreamgirls, everbody's talking about jamie, feminism, film, FTW, henry krieger, Hollywood, jane seymour, jon musker, media, moana, pauline boty, politics, rogue one, ron clements, susan faludi, tv, tyrus wong, unforgotten, Wonder Woman
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Why Nerve is the selfie generation’s Desperately Seeking Susan
Discussing Nerve and immersive gaming in film with Naomi Alderman on BBC Front Row on Radio 4 on August 11th and iplayer after. The Green Dress. I knew I’d seen it somewhere before in New York the moment it appeared … Continue reading
Posted in Film, Games, Media, Uncategorized
Tagged 80s, aidan quinn, cinema, dave franco, desperately seeking susan, emma roberts, film, Hollywood, madonna, media, nerve, New York, rosanna arquette
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The economics of burkas, bikinis & The Nice Guys
According to a recent BBC World Service programme about Malawi, the nation’s population hit 17.6 million this year and is expected to double by 2040, which the country’s finance minister described as “scary”. “A ticking timebomb of poverty and … Continue reading
Posted in Business/Economics, Comedy, Culture, Film, Media, Religion, TV, Uncategorized
Tagged 70s, BIG ISSUE, charlie perfume, Charlies Angels, cinema, culture, feminism, film, Hollywood, Islamic fashion, laurence rossignol, lynda carter, media, The Bionic Woman, the nice guys, virginia slims, Wonder Woman
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Bryan Singer on: Chariots of the Gods, Valkyrie, Star Trek & the mythology of X-Men Apocalypse
Here’s my full interview with the very well-read Bryan Singer on X-Men Apocalypse. We talked the Bible, classic Star Trek, the 60s vogue for theories on space seeding aliens, and why the Holocaust is a presence in so many of … Continue reading
Posted in Comics/graphic novels, Film, Germany, History, Media, Science Fiction/Fantasy, TV
Tagged 60s, bryan singer, chariots of the gods, cinema, film, Hollywood, Star Trek, who mourns for adonais, x men, x men apocalypse
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Johnny Guitar? You probably think this film is about you.
This is the text of an introduction I gave at a re-release screening of Johnny Guitar at the British Film Institute on May 6th 2016 I saw Johnny Guitar for first time here at the BFI to whom I”ll always … Continue reading
Posted in Uncategorized
Tagged 50s, bfi, Bigger Than Life, cinema, feminism, film, Hollywood, James Mason, Joan Crawford, Johnny Guitar, mercedes mccambridge, Natalie Wood, Nicholas Ray, Rebel Without A Cause, westerns
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Inside the world of Angels: the secret history of film & TV costumes
The chill hits me and a slight tang of…meat. I’ve entered the Fur store room at Angels Costumiers. We stand in silence. There are racks of fur coats – like a multiverse of Narnia entry points. Fox stoles are piled … Continue reading
Posted in Business/Economics, Culture, Design, Film, History, Media, Science Fiction/Fantasy, Theatre, TV, Uncategorized
Tagged angels costumiers, BBC, cinema, culture, film, Hollywood, Theatre Royal Stratford, tim angel, tv
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A brief encounter with Richard Attenborough & his best friend Bryan Forbes
When the British Film Institute ran a Richard Attenborough retrospective back in the early 2000s, Sir Richard came to introduce every screening. The gesture seemed to capture his enthusiasm, modesty, kindness and warmth for cinema and audiences. At the screening … Continue reading
Posted in Film, Uncategorized
Tagged bfi, british cinema, Bryan Forbes, cinema, FTW, Richard Attenborough, seance on a wet afternoon
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A Smashing Time: Murray Melvin on busting taboos in the 60s
 This is one of the most read pieces on my website but the link had stopped working so I’ve re-posted it here. The interview is still available to listen on the iplayer One to One link just below. For the … Continue reading
Posted in Culture, Film, Media, Radio, Theatre, Uncategorized
Tagged 60s, A Taste of Honey, Alfie, cinema, culture, Damn The Defiant, Dirk Bogarde, elitism, FTW, HMS Defiant, Joan Littlewood, Ken Russell, kitchen sink drama, michael caine, Murray Melvin, oliver reed, Rita Tushingham, The Devils, Theatre Royal Stratford
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Don Johnson on being a man’s man and “toooo much oestrogen”
I interviewed Don Johnson yesterday for BBC Radio 4’s Front Row programme about his new film Cold In July. Two things that stood out — the way he deploys a disarming exaggerated twang to the end of phrases and words … Continue reading
Posted in Uncategorized
Tagged 80s, cinema, Cold In July, Django Unchained, dolly parton, don johnson, feminism, Fifty Shades of Grey, FTW, Guys and Dolls, Hollywood, masculinity, media, Miami Vice, Quentin Tarantino, Sam Shepard, Steel Magnolias, tv
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