Roger Moore made North Sea Hijack immediately after Moonraker, and this poster very knowingly apes the classic “Bond with gun” pose. This is somewhat ironic, as Moore very much plays against type here – portraying a bearded, eccentric cat-loving anti-terrorism expert, who goes by the name of Rufus Excalibur ffolkes! From memory, I think the character…
Young Frankenstein / High Anxiety
I’m not much of a Mel Brooks fan, but these French posters showcase two of his better attempts at spoofing beloved genres. Personally, I didn’t find Young Frankenstein particularly funny, but I must admit it is a wonderful pastiche of the original Universal monster movies. Its black and white photography, in particular, really captures the…
Purple Rain
I saw Purple Rain at the press screening in Norwich before anyone other than diehard fans had ever hear of Prince. I thought his acting was quite dreadful, and the plot is pure cliche, but it was apparent that he had a charisma about him. Plus, of course, all the songs and stage performances were…
High Plains Drifter / Pale Rider
These are two mythical Westerns from Clint Eastwood, both of which essentially have the same conceit – the Clint character is the reincarnation of a dead lawman murdered by bandits, who returns to deliver justice to the perpetrators. High Plains Drifter was the first Western Clint directed himself, and the influence of Sergio Leone looms…
The Enforcer
I’m a big Humphrey Bogart fan but I’m not sure if I have ever seen 1951’s The Enforcer. Aside from sharing its title with a much later Clint Eastwood Dirty Harry sequel, I know it is a police procedural cum film noir. The movie was released under the title Murder Inc. in the UK, which…
Romancing The Stone / Jewel of the Nile
Romancing The Stone turned out to be a very pleasant surprise for me. I got sent to review it for my student paper and went in with zero advance knowledge and low expectations. It turned out to be a remarkably entertaining movie, with great chemistry between leads Michael Douglas and Kathleen Turner. This was also…
All The President’s Men
The first time I saw this movie at the cinema I found it really boring, largely because I had no idea what was going on! I was a little young and being British had not really followed the details of the Watergate scandal. I think maybe I was expecting more of an action thriller, and instead…
Zombies / Night Of The Living Dead
The late, great George A Romero is in many ways the father of the modern-day horror movie. Up until his seminal 1968 Night Of The Living Dead, horror had typically taken place in Victorian drawing rooms and the forests of Transylvania, first with Universal monsters in the 30-40s, and latterly with Hammer Films’ output. Night……
The Karate Kid
I never saw this movie in the 80s, and only recently watched it on Netflix. I had a general idea of what it was about, and somewhere I remembered knowing about the phrase ”wax on, wax off”, but this was one of those 80s ‘classics’ that had totally passed me by. What got me into…
Some Came Running
Unusually, I own several pieces of memorabilia for this movie which I have never seen. I bought these posters simply because I am a big Frank Sinatra fan. He holds a special meaning for me as he was my late father’s favourite singer. I was fortunate enough to be able to take my father to…