I saw The Breakfast Club with low expectations when reviewing movies for my student newspaper. It turned out to be one of the classic teen movies of the 80s. It is my favourite from the late director John Hughes, who also gave us teen classics Ferris Bueller and Pretty In Pink, amongst many more. These…
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…
Quadrophenia
My friend Andrew who is a huge Who fan has been asking me blog about this poster, as he also owns a copy. This is the UK “Quad”(!) I think I got this for free from a bookshop window display back when the movie came out. It was damaged badly at one edge and I…
The Blues Brothers
I must admit I never I quite “got” the appeal of this cult movie. It grew out of a musical sketch on Saturday Night Live featuring comedians John Belushi and Dan Aykroyd and the movie’s plot (such as it is) – “a mission from God” to save an orphanage – is basically a loose…
Saturday Night Fever
I must admit I never really ‘got’ this movie when it came out. I know it was a huge success and is now hailed as a classic, but I found it rather hokey at the time, and I still think it is somewhat over-rated. The movie’s effect on popular culture cannot be denied, however. It…
Soundtrack albums
Here is a selection of movie soundtrack vinyls I collected back in the 70s. I usually had not seen the movies at the time I bought the soundtracks, so my choice was largely based on the highly scientific approach of whether or not I liked the sleeve artwork! This also meant I hedged my bets…
The Sound Of Music
I must admit I have never been a huge fan of movie musicals. My wife, however, loves them! The Sound Of Music is her all-time favourite movie. So I was happy recently to be able to pick up this US one-sheet poster from the original first release. (It went into limited release with a view…
Rust Never Sleeps
This is a movie that I have never seen, although I have listened to the soundtrack album many times. Rust Never Sleeps was a concert film made in 1979 as a showcase for Neil Young and Crazy Horse. I saw Neil Young once years ago (on the “Trans” tour, super-fans) and frankly I found it…
Tucker: The Man and His Dream
This is the soundtrack album for a somewhat underrated yet very enjoyable Francis Ford Coppola movie. Tucker flopped upon release and has never been held in the same regard as Coppola’s earlier classics such as The Godfather and Apocalypse Now. Its certainly much more lightweight than those movies (deliberately so), but its a terrific, stylish…