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The story behind the success of a stuffed-toy phenomenon, The Beanie Bubble is in many ways a template World 2.0 tale of one man, a vision, plus a lot of help from other people, most of whom get left in the dust when it is time to bask in the glory. It could be Jobs, … Read more
Roman Polanski was meant to direct Downhill Racer but producer Robert Evans diverted him on to Rosemary’s Baby instead. So here’s Michael Ritchie’s pass at the same material. The former TV director does a good job, and let’s face it Rosemary’s Baby needed Polanski. Good jobs are done all round in fact. Mostly by Robert … Read more
A thriller done without the genre defaults, Lost in the Night (Perdidos en la Noche) is a film by Amat Escalante, a director who likes it bright and wide, slow and considered – more or less the opposite of the usual dark, claustrophobic, rapid and kneejerk. Does it work? No, but it’s a near miss … Read more
Boomerang! – what a great movie. Fully justifying that screamer, this movie from 1947 doesn’t get the love it deserves. For two reasons, of which more later. But first let’s clear away the baggage. It’s not a film noir, though it’s often described as one. Instead it’s one of those “ripped from the headlines” crime … Read more
Surrealist film-maker makes film about surrealist artist shock. Daaaaaalí! is the result, and you wonder why Quentin Dupieux, who’s only a semi-serious surrealist really, didn’t do it before. Dupieux starts off with a bit of comedy. Judith, a nervous young reporter played by Anaïs Demoustier, stands in a corridor with the great painter’s assistant, awaiting … Read more
A tightly plotted and nicely played whodunit of the old school, Green for Danger is also British to the core. Set during the Second World War, it was made in 1946, when it was possible to look back at the darkest hour – the Blitz, doodlebugs (the weaponised drones of yore) and all that with … Read more
Rosemary’s Baby: The Prequel would have been a more obvious title for Apartment 7A, for that is what it is, a straightforward precursor movie imagining that Rosemary wasn’t the first sweet young thing to become the broodmare of Satan. If you can remember Rosemary’s Baby we were told as much in that film. And if … Read more
An important film rather than a good one, at four and a half hours Dr. Mabuse the Gambler (Dr. Mabuse, der Spieler) is simply too unwieldy to qualify as a quality movie and yet it regularly ranks up there with the best of them, bolstered by the reputation of its director, Fritz Lang, who, whisper … Read more
Before Lee we’d kind of already had a movie about Lee Miller. Kirsten Dunst’s character in Civil War, an old-school photojournalist, had been named Lee in honour of Lee Miller, so she said, and her character was clearly modelled on Miller’s. Now here’s the real thing, a representation at least, with Kate Winslet applying herself … Read more
What exactly is so strange about the love of Martha Ivers in The Strange Love of Martha Ivers? Unfortunate, maybe? Random, perhaps? Convenient, possibly? Strange – not so much. But then that is this noirish, gothic 1946 melodrama all over, promising much and not quite delivering. It’s largely remembered these days as the film debut of … Read more
Allusional rather than visceral, Cuckoo is a stew of horror sub-genres served with a big side order of Grimm, and is pretty fabulous if you are used to drinking deeply at the well of the macabre. If you are not a horror nut, it’s probably a bit less necessary though fascinating all the same. It’s … Read more
There is some spectacularly bad acting in 1945’s My Name Is Julia Ross but it’s worth a look in spite of that. And at only 65 minutes, it’s not exactly an investment. To sell it a bit harder, it hums with weirdness, is very nicely directed by Joseph H Lewis, who was renowned for spinning … Read more
