On the left are links to some of my film reviews,
catalogued according to the years in which I first saw those films at the
cinema. I'm content director for Eye For Film, the UK's biggest
dedicated film website, so you can also find some of my work there,
including exclusive reviews, interviews and features.
Film has always been one of my great loves. When I first
watched King Kong, aged two, I was smitten by Fay Wray, and I
drew a picture of her in a yellow dress being clutched by a great black
ape atop the Empire State Building. From that point onwards I was always
drawing up storyboards and pretending to make films using cardboard
cameras and my toys as actors (at six I made The Life of
Christ, which freaked out certain relatives, especially as I had a
female doll named Lola playing the lead, nailed to a wooden crucifix in my
brother's room... I was just innocently aiming for realism). I dreamed of
the day when I might be able to make my own films, though I never thought
it would happen.
At college at the age of sixteen, I took an
extra-curricular vocational course in video editing. In my late teens and
early twenties, my career necessitated a number of TV appearances, each of
which provided a chance to learn more about the business. University
brought the opportunity to work with GUST, the student television body,
making programmes for cable, script doctoring, and directing other
people's short films. I also designed and directed music videos, though
my options were limited by a very small budget.
At the earliest opportunity I got myself work as a film
reviewer. Everyone always thinks this is the perfect job because one gets
to see so many films for free, but they're not accounting for some of the
awful stuff I've had to sit through, with no option to walk out. I have
one rule, and that's that I don't do chick flicks (with very rare
exceptions at the boundaries of the genre), but in return for accepting
that my various editors have made sure they got their money's worth. Of
course, when I was a student, any money was welcome, as were the free
lunches which often accompanied previews in those days. Latterly, there's
been an agreement between the studios to cut back on such bribes.
I got back into film-making in the early twenty first
century, after a long break necessitated by my partner Donald's illness.
In 2005 I wrote, produced and co-directed Dead End Job, a
Scottish zombie romp. I currently have a film based on one of my short
stories, All That Glitters, in production in Los Angeles,
being directed by Johnny Wu; and I'm getting together a good local team
with which I hope to embark on local projects in the near future.
To me, the first essential ingredient of a good film is a
good script, though I admit that's probably a bias brought about by my own
occupation. I don't really see the point of making a movie where
everything works except the words. Even a silent film needs to be
carefully storyboarded right from the start. I feel that a good film
should have something to say, or should at least provide a lot of fun
whilst saying little, and that requires three things on the part of its
producers: single-mindedness, self-discipline, and faith.
Single-mindedness because endless compromise dilutes the richest of
stories down to nothingness. Self-discipline because it will always be
necessary to sacrifice some parts of the vision for the sake of the whole,
and overindulgence always shows. Faith because there comes a moment, after
everything else, when the project must be let go. Continued fiddling can
whittle away any masterpiece, and overpolishing can leave it with a
characterless gloss. Sometimes what is raw is much more potent in its
impact.
Favourite Films
In no particular order, as these things change with my
mood:-
Blue Velvet - a well crafted, concise story
which nevertheless deals intelligently with some complex emotional issues.
I like this film because it makes its characters three dimensional even
while they function as archetypes. As JG Ballard described it, it is a
fairy tale, and elegantly directed in that style, as if with a child's
eye.
Matador! - full of colour, intensity and passion;
a film I can really connect to, which fits with the way I think and feel.
Almodóvar is a brave director who never shrinks from examining topics
which might squick the general public, yet manages not to get too caught
up in a surface show of wierdness, and is never satisfied with that alone.
This film has enormous energy and is gripping throughout.
Kind Hearts and Coronets - a film in which not a
word is wasted; elegantly witty, deliciously dark and superbly played.
It's hard to think of any way this could be improved on. Plus, of course,
there's all the fun of seeing Alec Guinness play nine different people.
Caligula - When I saw this for the first time I
was quite blown away. I know that most of the world hates it, that it's an
editorial mess with no fully satisfying version available, and that it has
been described as "at best, a flawed masterpiece", but I think it's
absolutely beautiful. Malcolm McDowell is one of my favourite actors and
brings real conviction to the central role, so that his character is
always believable and, in his own way, consistent, a true innocent in a
decaying and decadent world. Donald says it's one of the most romantic [1]
films he's ever seen, which might explain something of why I like it so
much. I just know that I cannot imagine ever tiring of watching it. It is
so intense, and so real.
Trainspotting - probably the most blatantly
fashionable of my choices here, this film meant a lot to me because it's
about a lifestyle I can relate to; it's about people who live in the same
world as me and have the same concerns, and with wit and gusto it shouts
out the obvious things which have long needed saying but which we never
previously seemed to have a voice for.
Picnic at Hanging Rock - Weir's later work never
equalled this; it is a long film, often accused of being slow, but I never
tire of viewing it, and it always keeps me spellbound. There's something
really dark there at the edge of the subconscious, and an incredible
beauty in the unspoken love and strange distance of the girls, which
gives it its mysterious power.
Casablanca - again, I love this film because of
its tight and witty script and all the different levels on which things
are happening. Every time I watch it I find something new. I also find the
understated romance developing between Rick and Louis particularly
touching and astute for its time.
Twin Peaks: Fire Walk With Me - another film which
seems to be set in my own world, having a lot of similarities to events in
my own life, this has been of immense value to me; it's the first thing of
somebody else's I have seen which seems to understand exactly how I feel
and how I fear, without being patronising or wanting to play the hero.
It's brutally honest and I respect that. And so I don't find it at all
surprising that other people hate it.
Se7en - this was a real surprise for me, a richly
crafted, intelligent film emerging from Hollywood with a beautiful dark
sense of humour which seemed to completely bypass most of its audience but
still didn't inhibit its success. A divine comedy.
Carnival of Souls - a strangely haunting little
film; once seen, never forgotten. Other films appeal to my heart, brain,
or (as Shakespeare might have put it) to my liver; this touches my soul.
Performance - this one manages to do wonderfully
original things with a non-linear plot and creative use of imagery. It's a
film that draws the viewer in, no matter what. Its message about the power
of decadence and the contrasting viciousness of the gangland world is
cleverly delivered by enabling the viewer to become a part of the process,
contributing to its identity-challenging aesthetic.
Dogs in Space - one of the most beautiful and
evocative movies ever made about the goth/punk lifestyle, this was
actually based on the life of my ex flatmate's friend, and apparently he
hated it; but whether or not it's an accurate biopic, I think it stands on
its own merits and has valuable things to say. It's all the more
poignant now as it contains a remarkable performance from Michael
Hutchence.
Repulsion - Polanski is one of the few directors
working in mainstream movies today whom I might actually credit with
genius, and this, from my perspective, is his finest work. Again, the
course of its heroine's madness is something I can relate to, and for this
reason I find it deeply disturbing, but it is also cathartic. I respect
Polanski for carrying through to their logical conclusion themes which
most would shrink from, and for doing so without being judgemental.
Vertigo - my favourite Hitchcock. For once the
great director was not encumbered by wooden actors, and had a powerful
story to work from. Further, I think it contains some of his most striking
and innovative photographic work.
Drowning by Numbers - I've always been attracted
to water and drowning, and I guess that's one reason why I like this film;
but I also love the theme of games which runs through it, and the
childlike imagination with which these are realised, and the intricacy
with which all the different threads are woven together.
I was also very much impressed by The Thirteenth
Warrior and Pi, full reviews of which you can see here.
Some Popular Films I Think are a bit Shite
Like it says...
Scream - 'irony' is not an excuse for tedium.
Jurassic Park - flawed animation (why didn't the
ground move when the dinosaurs did? Why were the shadows so badly done?),
far too many badly drawn characters and a derivative plot so full of holes
that it would seem even the velociraptors found it tasteless. Cute
monsters, shame about the film.
Carrie - why do so many people admire the ending
of this movie? It's not shocking. It's obvious from pretty much the
opening scene. It's contrived, pathetic, and not remotely scary. I
do like some moments in this movie, notably the ones which
examine Carrie's psychological suffering at the hands of her schoolmates,
but the supernatural aspect is overblown and achieves nothing.
Macbeth - in general I do adore Polanski's work;
this is the exception. Francesca Annes makes a particularly wet and
irritating Lady MacBeth. The nudity is, frankly, silly, as any resident of
Scotland can tell you. This is overplayed and overhyped.
Titanic - ultimately a bit of a damp squib. This
kind of movie makes fine entertainment for a wet Sunday afternoon on BBC2,
but all those Oscars? Come on! DiCaprio's acting is fairly good,
and the iceberg scenes are impressive, but other than that it's just a
glossy big-budget b-movie with a particularly nauseous theme song.
Basic Instinct - an erotic thriller with
Michael Douglas? Isn't that a contradiction in terms? Though not
as ugly, Sharon Stone is also rather dull. What exactly is there about her
that's supposed to be so revolutionary and exciting? Most of her sex life
seems tame even by the standards of teenage magazines, and she has all the
animal magnetism of a lettuce.
Pretty Woman - should the height of a woman's
aspirations be that a rich man make her financially secure so she only
needs to fuck him instead of lots of people? A story about characters who
think that way might be interesting, but this bit of fluff is incapable of
self-examination and does nothing but peddle unhealthy illusions.
