For this week's Thursday Movie Picks, run by Wandering through the Shelves, we’ve been asked to list three to five films that took home the Academy Award for either Best Original Score and Best Original Song. As usual I have my selection from films I have watched. Best Original Score John Williams for Jaws (1975)... Continue Reading →
Top 10 characters from AMC’s The Walking Dead
AMC's The Walking Dead premiered on Halloween 2010, an adaption of the comic book series of the same name that has made zombies a regular fixture on television screens across the globe for over a decade. The show started by following sheriff's deputy Rick Grimes of King County, Georgia, as he attempted to find his... Continue Reading →
Thursday Movie Picks – Non-English Language Movies
For this week's Thursday Movie Picks, run by Wandering through the Shelves, we’ve been asked to list three to five films that are not in the English language. I previously posted a top 10 list of films not in the English language earlier this year. For today's post I'm making my selection from films that... Continue Reading →
Super sleuth to rock god: 10 performances by Tom Cruise
As Tom Cruise celebrates his 59th birthday on 3 July it's worth reflecting on his incredible Academy Award-nominated career that has spanned 40 years. Cruise's first role was in 1981's Endless Love where he had a minor role as a friend of ones of the film's protagonists. His breakthrough role came two years later in the... Continue Reading →
Thursday Movie Picks – Oscar Winners Edition: Best Cinematography and Best Visual Effects
We're thinking about the Academy Awards again for this week's Thursday Movie Picks, run by Wandering through the Shelves. We’ve been asked to list three to five films where the film took home either the Oscar for Best Cinematography or Best Visual Effects. As usual, I’ve made my selection from films I have seen. Best... Continue Reading →
Thursday Movie Picks: Natural disasters
This week in Thursday Movie Picks – run by Wandering through the Shelves – we’ve been asked to list three to five films where the plot revolves around a natural disaster. As usual, I’ve made my selection from films I have seen, and as I really enjoy films from this genre, after a six-week hiatus from... Continue Reading →
Thursday Movie Picks: Oscar Winners Edition – Best Director
This week in Thursday Movie Picks – run by Wandering through the Shelves – we’ve been asked to list three to five directors who took home the Best Director Oscar. As usual, I’ve made my selection from films I have seen. What does a director do? MasterClass explains: "A director is a person who determines the... Continue Reading →
The 50 greatest Classic Hollywood screen legends
Classic Hollywood celebrates American films that were released between the 1910s and the 1960s. Commercial film production in the United States developed rapidly after World War I (1914-1918); the major Hollywood studios together were releasing more than 500 feature films a year by the mid-1930s. Source: Professor David Neumeyer. The American Film Institute (AFI) has... Continue Reading →
Thursday Movie Picks: Psychological Thrillers
This week in Thursday Movie Picks – run by Wandering through the Shelves – we’ve been asked to list three to psychological thrillers. As usual, I've made my selection from films I have seen. Fatal Attraction (1987) I watched this for the first time quite recently and while I knew the gist of the film -... Continue Reading →
Thursday Movie Picks: Oscar Winners Edition – Best Supporting Actor and Best Supporting Actress
This week in Thursday Movie Picks – run by Wandering through the Shelves – we’ve been asked to list three to five actors and actresses who claimed Best Supporting Oscars. As usual, I've made my selection from films I have seen. Best Supporting Actor Alan Arkin for his performance as Edwin Hoover in Little Miss Sunshine... Continue Reading →
Interview with veteran Hollywood animator Gene Hamm
"Working on Ralph Bakshi's The Lord of the Rings was my Woodstock," explains Gene Hamm, an animator now living in San Francisco who cut his teeth on the ambitious 1978 animation of JRR Tolkien's classic novel. "Everybody working on the production was just totally nuts. I'm amazed we got anything done because we'd have entire conversations just... Continue Reading →
Seven faces of Gary Oldman
Today – 21st March – is the 63rd birthday of the extremely versatile and supremely talented British actor Gary Oldman. Currently nominated for the Academy Award for Best Performance by an Actor in a Leading Role for Mank (2020), Oldman has delighted fans throughout his near 40-year career, bringing to life a diverse set of... Continue Reading →