No Future for You: The Cinematic Image of 70s Britain
“The 70s were a tumultuous and often bleak decade for the British film industry, and this pessimism bled into its output.”
‘That Sinking Feeling’ and a Very Scottish Heist
“At a time when on-screen Scotland was mostly shown to be either Ken Loach or ‘Brigadoon,’ ‘That Sinking Feeling’ manages to be its own thing…”
Mannhunting: Exploring Masculinity in the Films of Michael Mann – Part One
Mannhunting #1 by Bill Bria: “The protagonists and antagonists in Mann’s films tend to be mirror images of each other, all of them caught within masculinity’s shackles.”
Tearing Down the Monument: Sean Connery’s 1970s
“In my hatred for the Bond franchise, I feel I may have done a disservice to its star. I have always had a tendency to discount Sean Connery as an exquisitely sculpted statue, capable of filling out a tuxedo very nicely but little else.”
Carnival Madness: The Spectacle of Terror in R.W. Fassbinder’s ‘The Third Generation’
“In Fassbinder’s conception of West Germany following its chaotic autumn, terror takes on the tenor of performance art; like addicts lusting after a fix, the groupuscule seeks ennobling sensation; they must be satiated by “Something symbolic…”
First as Tragedy: ‘Winter Kills’ and the Twilight of the Conspiracy Thriller
“The demise of the conspiracy thriller pointed to a broader shift; it signalled the rise of a new credulity, a willingness to re-engage with the idea of America in spite of its reality.”
Cinema Viscera: Italian Zombie Horror
“This is a world where faith, governments, businesses, families and the other institutions humans have built will all crumble, just like human bodies, which will inevitably succumb to their fragility and fall victim to total destruction.”
Ridley Scott’s ‘Alien’ Is a 40-Year-Old Elevated Horror Masterpiece
“If ‘Alien’ came out today, it’d likely be hailed as some sort of genius elevated horror/prestige sci-fi movie. It’s an engrossing, pulse-pounding thriller with brains and a unique and stunning visual style. Forty years later, ‘Alien’ remains one of the best sci-fi AND horror films of all time.”
Fight Like a Man: ‘Rocky II’
“Films like ‘Rocky II’ age well because the moments that now seem anachronistic serve to shed light on problems we still have today, delivered by the kind of characters viewers can sympathise with, even if one doesn’t agree with all their opinions.”
Of Love and Other Demons: ‘Hardcore’ (Paul Schrader, 1979)
A Weekly Column on Love and Erotica in Cinema by Justine A. Smith