American Horror Story: Murder House (2011)
Mar29

American Horror Story: Murder House (2011)

American Horror Story: Murder House (2011)   Be warned…it’s hard to avoid Spoilers with this!  So you know! I’m guessing, since you’re reading this, that it’s possible that you watch a great deal of horror movies, just as I do.  If that’s so, then you know that after enough years it’s quite difficult to put a scare into yourself—and of course, we all like a good scare in the safety of the cinema or in the company of friends.  So...

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Life Affirming: The Walking Dead
Mar23

Life Affirming: The Walking Dead

Life Affirming: The Walking Dead     For the past couple of months I’ve been living vicariously through the aftermath of a Zombie Apocalypse, courtesy of Rick Grimes and his fellow cross-country-travelling and changing group of determined survivors.  And of course courtesy of Robert Kirkman, the very talented writer and creator of Image’s series of graphic novels The Walking Dead. I’m a latecomer to the phenomenon that Kirkman...

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Get Out the Hot Milk and Honey:Upside Down (2012)
Mar23

Get Out the Hot Milk and Honey:Upside Down (2012)

Get Out the Hot Milk and Honey: Upside Down (2012)         You will be hard pressed to find a more visually sumptuous or lushly gorgeous film this year than Upside Down.  The difficulty is that you’ll also be pushed to find one that’s dafter or more frustrating.  Writer/director Juan Diego Solanas gives us a setting that is an absolute delight for the eyes.  With his brilliant production designer Alex McDowell, so good with...

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“This Clown’s Not Funny”. You Can Say That Again: Stitches (2012)
Mar19

“This Clown’s Not Funny”. You Can Say That Again: Stitches (2012)

“This Clown’s Not Funny”.  You Can Say That Again: Stitches (2012)   I’m very averse to slagging off any film because of my basic stance that nobody sets out to make a bad one.  But Christ on a stick, it is damned nearly impossible to say anything good about this Irish movie, Stitches, written and directed by Conor McMahon.  For want of a better word (like, maybe, ‘abomination’) I’ll call it a splatter-comedy.  The only thing wrong...

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‘He’s Always Watching’: Hitchcock (2012)
Mar15

‘He’s Always Watching’: Hitchcock (2012)

‘He’s Always Watching’: Hitchcock (2012)     “All of us harbour dark recesses of violence and horror…by the way, try the finger sandwiches.  They’re real fingers.” —Hitchcock.   When I was a kid growing up in the ‘sixties and beginning my life-long love affair with the cinema, I was even then curious about this mysterious guy known as ‘the director’.  My mother and father didn’t really get what I was on about.  As long as...

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