Monthly Archives: April 2011

Nosferatu: A Symphony of Horror

Last night the Brixton Ritzy was offering the perfect antidote to all the royal wedding palaver – a screening of F.W. Murnau’s 1922 horror classic, Nosferatu, with live accompaniment courtesy of a collective called Minima. I believe it was the … Continue reading

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Old Films, Five Words #5: Dumbo

Inebriated underage elephant turns delusional. Or: What exactly is that drink?

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Meek’s Cutoff

‘A film with true grit’ says the poster for Meek’s Cutoff. I wonder which Oscar-nominated box office success the distributors are trying to cash in on? In fact, this Western could barely be further from the Coen Brothers’ recent effort … Continue reading

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The Silent House

This high-concept horror movie claims to offer ‘real fear in real time’ due to its unique selling point: it was filmed in a single 72-minute take. Whether this is strictly true has been the subject of a somewhat trivial debate; … Continue reading

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Cinema vs. Theatre

Recently I went to a cinema screening of Danny Boyle’s theatre production of Frankenstein, beamed live from the National Theatre. It was a decent enough reworking of Shelley’s novel, the highlight being Benedict ‘Sherlock Holmes’ Cumberbatch’s incredibly physical portrayal of … Continue reading

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Essential Killing

This Polish film by veteran director Jerzy Skolimowski is a confident piece of pure cinema – a story told through images alone. Vincent Gallo plays a Jihadi who escapes from capture by the American army and struggles to survive as … Continue reading

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