The current Hollywood craze for reimagining fairytales as big budget films has passed me by. The Tim Burton Alice in Wonderland irritated me, it was too much of same old manic faced Johnny Depp and wild eyed Helena Bonham-Carter for my liking…
Archives for March 2013
Top Ten: James Stewart Films
24 March 2013 by 8 Comments
To round off my James Stewart celebration weekend here are my Top Ten films starring the great man himself. And one starring an invisible 6ft rabbit…
Rope
24 March 2013 by Leave a Comment
For me, and I think for many people, James Stewart was at his most endearing when playing the everyman. The characters that come to mind are those who are slightly bumbling and naïve but certainly kind and considerate. George Bailey, Jefferson Smith and Elwood P. Dowd…
Mr Smith Goes To Washington
23 March 2013 by Leave a Comment
In the dark and distant days before I spent my days writing I used to work in the murky world of politics. I don’t have particularly fond memories of that period of my life but at the same time I still have an enduring interest in politics and political issues..
James Stewart – An Appreciation
23 March 2013 by 2 Comments
Most of the films that I watch and rewatch on a regular basis are from the more modern era. The mid-70s to today, roughly the years that I have been alive. My DVD shelves are packed with movies from the past fifteen years. I’m a modern girl….
Sweeney Todd: The Demon Barber of Fleet Street
22 March 2013 by Leave a Comment
Earlier today I celebrated Stephen Sondheim’s 83rd birthday by watching and reviewing West Side Story. A little later in the day and it seemed appropriate to go about as dark as possible with movie musicals and have a blood-splattered evening…
West Side Story
22 March 2013 by Leave a Comment
Today is composer and lyricist Stephen Sondheim’s 83rd birthday and to celebrate I’m reviewing two of his musicals brought to life on the big screen, starting with the classic Oscar-winner West Side Story. I’ve already discussed West Side Story a couple of times on the blog, it features in both the Top Ten Musicals and Top Ten Weepies categories…
Side Effects
18 March 2013 by 2 Comments
I’ve not had a great couple of weeks at the cinema. Safe Haven, Hansel and Gretel, Die Hard and Warm Bodies have been latest big screen forays and it’s fair to say that none of them will be troubling the compilers of the end of year “Best of” lists…
Safe Haven
1 March 2013 by Leave a Comment
I set myself a task at the beginning of the year to go through my DVD collection and watch all of my unwatched films. I’ll admit it – we’ve reached the beginning of March and I’ve not made much, um, any progress. In fact I’ve bought new films that I’ve not watched yet so I’m actually going backwards. But it’s a brand new month…
Hansel and Gretel: Witch Hunters
1 March 2013 by 2 Comments
It’s the week after the Oscars, the point in the year when the next awards season is as far away from everyone’s minds as it is possible to be. Therefore it is the perfect time for the studios to dump the films they want people to forget about as soon as they can. Given that Hansel and Gretel: Witch Hunters was filmed in early 2011…