Issues of censorship and freedom of speech are always more complicated than we’d like. It’s never just simply a clear cut question of “this” or “that”. The complete denial that certain elements of pop culture, for instance, can’t possibly do anyone any harm under any circumstances, doesn’t really hold up – of course some people […]
In his Biographical Dictionary of Film, David Thompson has a very brief entry on the English director Thorold Dickinson. He implies that Dickinson was a kind of failure, unable to make films and so turning to teaching. Thompson sees him as a sad character, his talent wasted on unworthy students no doubt unaware of who […]
Astree Sternhjelm, an attractive Swedish woman vacationing in Puerto Rico with her matronly aunt, Ana, is seduced by the music, colour and apparent freedom offered by life in the tropics. Her humourless aunt, on the other hand, can’t wait to catch the boat home to Stockholm and “civilized life”. Towards the end of their visit, […]
It’s been a bigger than average week for DVDs, thanks to a couple of packages from Amazon UK, plus the usual Tuesday field trip to the local stores. (I first learned that Tuesday is “new release day” from my friend Sheldon when we were at the Canadian Film Centre together in 1998 and have quite […]
The camera drifts above endless miles of mist-shrouded forest, following the meandering course of an old river. The soundtrack is rich with the sounds of birds and other wildlife. Then, as it rises over a tree-covered ridge, a different view opens up before us: what looks like an obliterated landscape stretching to the horizon. We […]
I’m addicted to DVDs, and like many addicts I’m somewhat ambivalent about my substance of choice. Back in the day (and I am old enough to use that expression) I got a pleasure out of watching movies that I don’t seem to get so much any more. In some ways this seems strange because in […]
I recently opined about the trend in “found-footage” horror movies, a sub-genre which makes explicit reference to its own origins in the availability of inexpensive video equipment. But of course, not all filmmakers who pick up a small camcorder are interested in that kind of self-reflexive activity. Some just want to make a movie. This […]