On Watching Northfork

There’s a risk in going back to watch movies you loved years ago. I call it the “Doc Savage Effect.” Despite the wounds of previous nostalgia-fueled viewing still being surprisingly strong, when clearing out my DVDs, I finally decided it was time to re-watch Northfork before I sent it on to find another home. And, … Continue reading On Watching Northfork →

On Good and Bad Movies

I’m going to say something now that might blow your mind, so prepare yourself. I believe – I hold very strongly to be true – that, unlike steak, kisses, European countries, there’s no point in thinking of movies in terms of “good” or “bad”. OK, are we all still together? Let’s carry on. I’m not … Continue reading On Good and Bad Movies →

On Obscure Objects of My Affectation

Before I start on another film post, let’s take a moment to revel in the fancy wordplay of that title. Did you even notice? Your brain wants you to read affection; affection is the word that makes sense there. And yet, no. Affectation. Because this is a blog post about wanting to seem better than we … Continue reading On Obscure Objects of My Affectation →

MoviePass Versus Sinemia

[UPDATED 10/11/18 - see the bottom of this post] OK, so we've all heard of MoviePass, yes? It’s the hot new thing in movie watching, or the death of cinemas as we know it – depending on who you ask. It is, basically, a service that lets people watch a lot of movies at the … Continue reading MoviePass Versus Sinemia →

On The Shape of Water (2017)

When we talk about how we watch movies, something I hadn’t given much thought to before – and which really should have been obvious – is how much it matters who we are watching the movies with. After I wrote this blog, I saw this great article about how personal experience so clearly can influence … Continue reading On The Shape of Water (2017) →

How Do I Write About Movies?

The New Year, we're assured, is a time for looking both forward and back: what have we spent the last year doing and what should we do differently and better in the next 12 months? I asked myself, among other things, one particular question: what would I do if I could do anything? Well, fly, … Continue reading How Do I Write About Movies? →

#FridayNightFright: the second

As noted previously, The Child and I were having our very own horror movie evening every week. And it had to have a hashtag or else it didn't really exist. So, there we have it: #FridayNightFright. Part of our motivation - other than just simply wanting to watch some good horror movies - was to … Continue reading #FridayNightFright: the second →

Best of 2017

2017 was bad. Let’s not pretend otherwise. At least globally. And nationally. And possibly even locally. But, personally, it could have been worse. I remain, somehow, in full employment. My family moved from an apartment with what seemed like a family of tap-dancing rhinos above us to a house with a yard that the dogs … Continue reading Best of 2017 →

#FridayNightFright 2017

Horror is an interesting genre. It covers a multitude of movies, from cheap home-made efforts to Oscar winners like Silence of the Lambs. The longer I thought about it, the less idea I had about what exactly counted as "horror." Sure, there were the obvious - Halloween, American Werewolf in London, Wolf Creek, The Flintstones … Continue reading #FridayNightFright 2017 →

Please do not stand on chairs

Every one of these chairs has this sign on it. Apparently people like to re-enact the ending of Dead Poets Society in Half-Price Books in Austin. Keep that kind of thing to the privacy of your own homes, people.