Cavern of Love

Here are some of those things that make the cinema a fantastic place to be when free from all the evils mentioned in the last blog. Some are purely cinematic and some relate to the cinema. If there are links here, check 'em out - who knows, you might enjoy them as much as I do! The list is shorter only because, in my enthusiasm, I've written more about them!

Chan-Wook Park - Thus far his major films list Joint Security Area, Sympathy for Mr Vengeance and Oldboy. Not a huge list I agree, but when you've done two films as good as Sympathy and Oldboy it doesn't matter. The potential is there for this guy to become the best around and, with Korea's film industry currently so bouyant and his own films generating both cash and cachet, there's no reason why he can't fulfil that potential.

Stanley Kubrick - Forget Eyes Wide Shut, which was a sorry film to go out on, and remember the good stuff. And there was lots of it. Though his filmography was fairly small, how many directors had a better batting average than this man? And how many directors have created as many iconic moments as this guy, the sort of moments that get copied and paraodied ad infinitum? Not many I can tell you. Innovative, intellectually challenging and visually arresting; without him cinema would be a paler, weaker place!

The Seventies - People forget just how good this decade was for cinema. It pushed the boat out for everything. And when you look at the decade that followed, it is a fucking tragedy that the cinematic legacy of this decade was discarded so lightly: intellectually, politically, thematically and just in terms of quantity of quality, it shits all over the decades that followed it. Many of the finest screenwriters around operated during this decade: Paddy Chayefsky, Robert Towne, Paul Schrader, William Goldman. Many great directorial talents did fantastic stuff within this decade, and most of them have since lost it to varying degrees: Francis Coppola, Martin Scorsese, Robert Altman, Werner Herzog, Woody Allen, Steven Spielberg, William Friedkin, and this list goes on and on. And any decade that generates forgotten films like The Terminal Man deserves all the credit it can get!

Sergio Leone - Some love affairs are fleeting, and some directors have you hooked for life. Sergio is as good for me now as he has always been.

Subtitles - Short of learning another language, don't knock 'em! These little beauties have given us access to some of the finest cinema ever in all the languages under the sun. And in a weak, tabescent period for English language cinema there is another option! Start reading subtitles and checking out what old Johnny Foreigner has to offer. You won't be sorry.

Independent Cinemas - Fuck the multiplex. You want choice then you come here. Most big cities have them, so use them...or they'll disappear. Put money in the hands of those who give a shit about cinema and not about making more money!

Revels - The crack of cinema snacks!

Empire - It's been around for a while and for good reason. It's the best cinema mag around.

Hollywood Elsewhere - A film column by Jeffrey Wells...it's a good 'un. Says things as he sees them. And whilst I may not always agree with everything he says, I agree with most of it. Currenly on Kevin Smith's website Moviepoopshoot, but will be moving to his own URL soon. Check it out. And likewise...

IMDB - If you want to find something out about that film, with that bloke, who was in that thing...then you come here to do it.

There will be more of this to follow in amidst a lot more reviews.