In 1978, when it was released, a movie where white mercenaries kill a bunch of black soldiers and (almost) rescue a black resistance leader was nothing more than a cracking adventure. Now, its ‘white saviour’ theme is rather uncomfortable, notwithstanding some token attempts in the script to address racism head-on. (The movie also invited controversy…
Barbarella
I honestly do not know what to make of Barbarella. I only have vague memories of having seen it once on TV and I recall it was very campy, silly and not particularly funny. Yet it has a status now as something of an influential cult classic, so maybe I was just too young to…
Round Midnight
Here is an Oscar-winning soundtrack from a movie I must admit I do not remember at all well. I cannot claim to be much of a jazz connoisseur either, but I do like the imagery of late nights in smoky 50s clubs, with fragile or frazzled talents bringing magic onstage. Round Midnight casts one of…
Peplums
Here are some examples of a peculiar sub-genre. “Peplums” are a term for low-budget Italian-made ‘sword and sandal’ historical epics. The peak “peplum” period was the 60s, when hundreds of such movies featuring Biblical stories and/or Greco-Roman mythical heroes were made. These attempted to copy the success of Hollywood epics such as Ben Hur or…
Castle Of Frankenstein
Here some copies of a vintage American horror magazine that I picked up recently very cheaply in France, of all places. Castle Of Frankenstein ran for 25 issues between 1962 and 1975. It was at the time the only nationally distributed magazine which covered B-movies seriously, in addition to both classic and current horror movies….
Touch Of Evil
1958’s Touch of Evil is one of the greatest Film Noirs of all time. It also contains one of the most famous long take tracking shots in history, courtesy of the great Orson Welles. Star Charlton Heston brought Welles onboard to both direct and star as the villain of the piece – a bloated, corrupt…