Capturing childhood on film is tough. Oh, it’s easy to put up something that kind of resembles it and passes for it in the glossy world of cinema, but putting kids on screen that actually act and feel like children? That’s difficult.
I Wish (2011)
Top Ten Films of the Year
I’ve spent a lot of time scoffing at people’s declarations that 2016 has been a bad year for cinema. While there is no denying that Batman vs. Superman, Suicide Squad, X-Men and a few other blockbusters were utter balls, there have been more fantastic movies outside of that world than there has bad in it. In fact, this is one of the toughest top tens I’ve ever come up with and if ten were a bigger number films like The Witch, Rogue One, Spotlight, Your Name, Creed,  Bone Tomahawk, Adult Life Skills and more would have found their way into it. Sadly it’s not, and these are my chosen ten. As usual, this is my ten favourites which are different from the ten best and is based on UK release dates. It is also opinion so while you can feel free to tell me I’m wrong, don’t expect me to care.
Rare Exports: A Christmas Tale (2010)
If Black Christmas brings slashing to the holiday season then Rare Exports: A Christmas Tale brings Guillermo Del Toro. A Finnish horror film that was released in 2010 it gives you a Santa that is very different to the Jolly Old Saint Nick we are all used to.
Black Christmas (1974)
We are into December, and the bells are jingling as we dust off those Christmas classics and pull them out of the cupboard for their yearly viewing. There’s enough good cheer on the TV to make Santa Claus puke, and for a few weeks, we pretend the world is a better place. However, what do you turn to when that cloying feeling of happiness becomes too much? You don’t want to completely give up on that Christmas feeling, but you do fancy seeing some slashing? Enter Black Christmas.
Devil (2010)
There are few filmmakers as frustrating as M. Night Shyamalan. When he’s good, he can shock and awe but when he’s bad he feels like a rip-off of himself. Someone trying to capture a magic that they don’t understand. While Devil didn’t come under his direction – that joy goes to John Erick Dowdle – it does come from his script and his fingers are all over it.
The Company Of Wolves (1984)
It’s no secret that your average fairytale is twistier than a pair of headphones pulled from your pocket and while Disney has done their best to clean them up there are still those that cling to the Brother Grimm way of telling these tales. Authors like Neil Gaiman have kept that tradition alive, and films like The Company Of Wolves make sure that Disney Princesses aren’t the only ones that find adventure in the woods.
Halloween Binge: Halloween
Last year I sat down and watched every single Nightmare on Elm Street film before splurging my thoughts about them onto the internet. It was an endeavour that went from the dizzying heights of the first film to the genuine surprise of Dream Masters and New Nightmare to the absolute horror of Freddy’s Dead. It was also great fun. So, this year I decided to do the same and delve into another slasher franchise, Halloween. Now, obviously this would have made a lot more sense around a week ago, but there are ten fucking films, so give me a break. (I’ll try to keep spoilers to a minimum, but when discussing an entire franchise there will be the occasional titbit dropped.)
Don’t Blink (2014)
A group of friends and a resort so remote that when you arrive your car is running on fumes. It’s a movie set-up that means you can almost hear the machete being sharpened. And yet, Don’t Blink is not a slasher. No one gets decapitated, and the masked stranger stalking the woods is on holiday. Instead, this group of friends begins to slowly disappear. The second you take your eyes off someone they blink out of existence. Why? No one knows.
The Phantom of the Opera (1925)
As promised at the end of my review of the 1943 version of Phantom of the Opera I have since gone back and watched Universal’s first attempt at this particular ‘monster.’ Released in 1925, this is a silent film and sees Lon Chaney step into the mask of the Phantom.
Phantom of the Opera (1943)
Halloween is approaching, and it seems as good a time as any to re-explore the world of the Universal Monsters. However, while Frankenstein, Dracula and The Mummy have become synonymous with that term, it’s not one that many will associate with the Phantom of the Opera. More commonly known as an Andrew Lloyd Webber musical, the Phantom was part of Universal’s pantheon with them releasing both a silent version in 1925 and this version in 1943, the only Universal Monster picture to win an Oscar.
Ramblings About Wrestling 