“The ghosts of the divisive past that New Labour set out to consign to history’s trash heap reared their heads, presaging a politics that would cast off the Blairite technocratic order.”
D.M. Palmer on the career women of ‘9 to 5’ (1980), ‘Baby Boom’ (1987), ‘Big Business’ (1988), ‘Working Girl’ (1988) and ‘Disclosure’ (1994).
“The generation that had fought the war was confronting the generation that had overseen it, staging a sub-rosa assault on entrenched power.” – D.M. Palmer on ‘Patterns,’ ‘The Man in the Gray Flannel Suit’ and ‘The Apartment’
“‘The Magic Christian’ cries out to be re-visited. For all the cultural specificity of the novel and film, Grand remains a strikingly modern figure.”
“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.”
“There is a danger and dynamism to 20s cinema which was gradually eradicated by the standardisation of production processes.”
“The Hancock persona tapped into a uniquely British strain of malaise, which manifests itself in a fractious fatalism, a dread of impotence which finds its expression in outlandish displays of petulance, pettiness and pomposity.”
Vague Visages Short Stories #15: Only the Names Have Been Changed by D.M. Palmer (Sheffield, UK)
VV’s D.M. Palmer, Peter Bell and Q.V. Hough on Martin Scorsese and Marvel
“The cowboy is an emissary of civilisation, enduring all the hardships the elements can throw at him to create a space in which civilised values can flourish unhindered. The symbolism of the cowboy is so potent that it continues to be invoked for political gain.”
“There is little doubt that ‘Gabriel Over the White House’ was a test balloon of sorts, priming the audience for a discussion on the merits of the strongman leader, asking them what they would be willing to sacrifice in order to ameliorate the national plight.”
Vague Visages Short Stories #13: iamdifid: by D.M. Palmer (Sheffield, UK)
Vague Visages Short Stories #11: Beaming by D.M. Palmer (Sheffield, UK)
“Just as the internet unleashed the Slenderman, it is culpable in bringing forth another seductive monster who uses this technology to warp minds and sow division…”
“The ‘Predator’ franchise is a repository of the fears that plague the powerful. The context changes, but the fear persists — the fear that the conqueror may one day become the conquered.”
“As a primer on Laing, ‘Mad to be Normal’ offers nothing substantive; there is little attempt to explicate Laing’s ideas, or to pursue how he formulated those ideas while working in Glasgow’s mental hospitals…”
“‘Dark River’ excels in the areas where Barnard has already proven herself adept: she draws stellar performances from her cast across the board, and creates a vibrant naturalism without sacrificing tone or style.”
Vague Visages Short Stories #10: Find Your Perfection by D.M. Palmer (Sheffield, UK)
“In straining to emulate something in the order of a traditional thriller, Katz and his team of long-time collaborators find themselves sliding perilously towards the formulaic.”
“In its absence of cynicism and surface mundanity, ‘Joe Pera Talks with You’ presents a conceit that feels genuinely daring in the context of a comic universe which prides itself on provocative fare from the likes of Tim and Eric, Dave Willis and Eric Andre.”
