As regular readers will know, I’ve been posting my personal ‘year’s best’ lists ever since I started writing here in 2016, and each time I’ve prefaced the survey of my favourite movies, music, etc, with complaints about the dreadful state of British and international politics followed by the expression of (mostly forlorn) hopes for an … Continue reading My best movies, music, books and other moments from 2022
Over the last few years I've occasionally posted recommendations for recent BluRay/DVD releases and CDs that might prove useful for anyone wondering what to buy as gifts for Christmas. Since they seem to have been fairly popular posts, I thought I’d do it again – and I’ve even added in a couple of books this … Continue reading Just in time for Christmas, part 2: classic movies, new music releases and books…
I’ve never been very interested in reading autobiographies by movie stars; wrongly or rightly, I’ve had the impression that they often have a tendency towards mythomania. But recently I was asked if I’d like a review copy of Paul Newman: The Extraordinary Life of an Ordinary Man – A Memoir, and since I’d seen a fellow … Continue reading Behind the Beautiful Mask: Paul Newman on Paul Newman
Over the decades the two questions I’ve been asked most, as critic and programmer, have been what my favourite film is and what made me want to work in film. To the first, after explaining that I don’t have a single favourite film, I used to reply L’Atalante, but that often met with blank looks, … Continue reading Revisiting Hollywood’s last golden age: my part in a new publication
For the list of my best (ie favourite) films, music, books, etc two years ago, I noted the importance of taking solace from the arts at a time when Brexit, Johnson, Trump, climate change and others were cause for such anxiety, anger and despondency. Last year, of course, with Covid having taken its toll, we’d … Continue reading Best of another bad year: movies, music and other highlights of 2021.
Since a similar post seemed to go down quite well last year, and in case you’re wondering what to buy folks (or yourself) for Christmas, I thought I’d again offer recommendations of classic movies released on BluRay and DVD during the last 12 months. Many of the films listed below come in glorious restorations and, … Continue reading Just in time for Christmas, part 2: great classic movies now out on disc.
You may think you know all you need to know about The Velvet Underground: the encounter of New York songwriter Lou Reed and Welsh classical violist John Cale, the bringing in of drummer Maureen Tucker and guitarist Sterling Morrison, the ‘sponsorship’ of the band by Andy Warhol, the temporary addition of Nico to the outfit, … Continue reading Not Just the Band: Todd Haynes’ The Velvet Underground
Call me curious. Some years ago – never mind how long precisely, but it must have been back in the ’70s or early ’80s – I embarked on what might have been a major odyssey: reading Moby-Dick. I didn’t get very far. But now I’m giving it another try. That’s why you can call me … Continue reading Of Whales and Men: Navigating The North Water
Howard Hawks has been one of my favourite filmmakers ever since I first discovered what a director did. How could he not be when he made – to cite my personal top-ten of his films (for today, anyway, and listed in the order they were made) – Scarface, Only Angels Have Wings, His Girl Friday, … Continue reading Howard Hawks: Hollywood hack or supreme cimematic artist?
When I first became a cinephile back in the autumn of 1973 – my life changed, imperceptibly but permanently, when I took a seat in the front row of the Cambridge Arts Cinema to watch Bergman’s Cries and Whispers – I set about learning about the (for me) newly discovered art form as quickly as … Continue reading Film as Criticism: the illustrious example of VF Perkins
notes and observations by Geoff Andrew 