I have the German Blu; the new transfer is a huge step forward. Calling UK boutique labels...!

"COLIN'S SANDWICH...publicity describing it as a Hancock’s Half Hour for the eighties turned out to be unwise strategy, as unenthused press coverage invariably concentrated on unfavourable comparisons to its revered antecedent...." drunkennessofthingsbeingvarious.blogspot.com/2023/08/watc...

Klute franksfilmreview.com/2026/05/02/k... Alan J. Pakula’s Klute isn’t your typical detective thriller. It might start with a classic setup — private eye John Klute (Donald Sutherland) is hired to find a missing man — but what unfolds is a slow-burning, psychological drama that will keep you on...

Here’s some half-formed thoughts on the dangers of nostalgia and wanting to live in a past that never existed, from the fog of my tired brain. You’re welcome. wp.me/pgpnV3-aG

Goon Show 9.16: The Gold Plate Robbery. Lord Seagoon's gold dinner service is stolen, and he travels far and wide attempting to track the thieves down. This surprised me by having a good scene set in Marrakesh, with no cod-African accent from Sellars. #GoonForARun www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b...

“In the early 1960s, German cinema was in a sorry state”: Sukhdev Sandhu explores the life of filmmaker Alexander Kluge, who died in March

Harold Evans once came to a class of journo probationers I was attending to give us all a pep talk (he was Sunday Times editor at the time); that's a great piece of casting...

#BOTD Tyrone Power - THE MARK OF ZORRO #FilmSky youtu.be/Beu_X8lklG8?...

1/4. Was watching A DOUBLE LIFE (1947) 📷 and reminded of the number of films in which Shelley Winters dies in violent ways. But from good-time-girls to mousey factory worker to former Olympic swimming champion to crime matriarch, I can think of few actors who were as versatile or memorable.

73 years ago today, Squadron Commander Christopher Draper DSC flew under 15 of London’s 18 bridges, prompting ‘Mad Major’ headlines – a nickname he’d earned by trying the same stunt 23 years earlier. He was 61, basically got away with it, and didn’t lose his pilot’s licence for another 11 years 🧵

This is now what passes for “science” from the BBC. Hackneyed cliches, faux mystery, factually incorrect statements. 1. Archaeologists are, once again, “baffled” www.bbc.co.uk/news/article...

Happy 83rd birthday to Michael Palin, Sheffield lad, the only Yorkshireman to have performed in the 'Four Yorkshiremen' sketch (Monty Python, but first performed by Tim Brooke-Taylor, John Cleese, Graham Chapman and Marty Feldman in the 1967 TV series 'At Last the 1948 Show').

Brought to you from the person who just found this:

RIPLEY UNDER GROUND (2026)

In a break from reviews of the latest releases, Camus explores the ways in which David Fincher's much maligned ALIEN 3 is improved by the Assembly Cut (which recently dropped unannounced to streaming) and how that compares to the fan-made Legacy Cut tinyurl.com/mv8ba6e7

Jerome Moross's score is important here, both in its absence and when it kicks in. He leaves the drama to speak for itself, then he underscores the action; without it, it's just men riding... #TheBigCountry #FilmSky youtu.be/9SDYkONnfCw?...

"I have orgasms. He has 'wargasms.'" Savages is a prime late-career Oliver Stone, prolix filmmaking meets slick Hollywood with mixed results. Stone wants Savages to be an overarching look at drugs with the positives and negatives. He abhors the violence and loves seeing his characters get high.

I’ll be damned. The Pulitzer board did it. Good on them

Here's an insightful, fascinating interview with Michael Palin - a brilliant, funny, lovely man who has brought nothing but joy to the world. The greatest living Python, obviously. www.youtube.com/watch?v=tqvw...

First Watch: Whisky Galore! (1949). Alexander Mackendrick's debut and one of the most fondly remembered Ealing Comedies, and it's easy to see why. Based on a real-life incident in which Scottish islanders "rescued" the booze from a sinking cargo ship, it is untaxing fun and clearly very influential

“This is an important release from BFI. The transfer is sublime, the Blu-ray extras generous and varied, the booklet essays insightful.” I wrote a booklet essay on the score so I’ll take that!

'The beauty of the film’s sumptuous, high-contrast black and white cinematography is almost hallucinatory' ★★★★★ RED BEARD - Top-tier #Kurosawa melds visual beauty with moral clarity - now on #BFI Blu-ray - review @realjohncarvill.bsky.social www.theartsdesk.com/film/blu-ray...

#BOTD Audrey Hepburn - CHARADE #FilmSky youtu.be/QwdOw-JXTOI?...

15 minute klaxon to our Bank Holiday Evening Classic! ODD MAN OUT (1947) at 8:30pm #TPTVsubtitles

For Star Wars day, give us your top 10 sci-fi films. Metropolis The Quatermass Xperiment Quatermass 2 The Day The Earth Caught Fire THX1138 2001: A Space Odyssey The Day The Earth Stood Still The Thing From Outer Space War Of The Worlds (2005) Alien #FilmSky

Film-wise: at 6.20pm, Chicken Run on Sky One. At 9pm, The Martian on Film4 or Coogan’s Bluff on ITV4. At 10pm, The Great Escaper on BBC2. At 10.15pm, Hellboy II: The Golden Army on ITV1. At 10.50pm, Body Double on Talking Pictures. At 11.20pm, Mud on BBC2. At 11.50pm, Attack the Block on C4 #telly

Le Doulos (The Finger Man) (1962) Written for the screen & directed by Jean-Pierre Melville based on the novel by Pierre Lesou. Starring Jean-Paul Belmondo, Serge Reggiani & Jean Desailly. #FilmNoir #Cinema #Movie #Film #Filmsky #Moviesky #Cinemasky #Jean-PierreMelville #France

Attention all Pinter fans: this is the film the characters endlessly dissect in Pinter’s superb play Old Times. It’s bloody marvellous as you might expect from Carol “The Third Man” Reed with magnificently ripe Robert Newton and heartrending James Mason. A must-see.

Carol Reed's ODD MAN OUT (1947) 8:30pm starring #JamesMason #RobertNewton #WilliamHartnell #FayCompton in this classic British noir thriller #TPTVsubtitles

Bank holiday means corned beef sandwiches and a wartime movie of some sort, and we picked 49th Parallel and BLOODY HELL it’s good. Powell and Pressburger, above all, are *always* telling you a story. Not the one you expect, almost ever, but they care that you care. And so it’s always terrific.

SCUM (1960) #lostfilmsofhollywood linkly.link/2hi5J @quantick.bsky.social

Well, that was thoroughly enjoyable. Over all I think it looked and felt more like a BBC Dickens adaptation circa the Gillian Anderson Bleak House and Clair Foy Little Dorrit than a theatrical feature so it was a perfect fit for BBC TV really and breaking it into episodes didn't do any notable harm.

Film Recommendation of the Day: ODD MAN OUT 8:30pm on @talkingpicturestv.bsky.social

Saul Enderby: "It isn’t some Russian plot to lure us to our destruction is it George?" George Smiley: "I’m afraid we’re no longer worth the candle…" A reminder that SMILEY'S PEOPLE is still up on iPlayer; my Letterboxd review... boxd.it/cSbtj1

Growing up in a strictly Christian family, the Omen worked its peculiar magic on me from a young age. For me, its demonic horror wasn't just real, but really imminent - just as the man behind the original idea had intended all along. www.thehaughtyculturist.com/films/the-om... #FilmSky #Horror

Yup. Loved it - boxd.it/ee11lz

This is rather lush, and in UHD too... The Count of Monte Cristo, Series 1: Episode 1: www.bbc.co.uk/iplayer/episode/m002t52f via @bbciplayer

Just for a second @christhebarker.bsky.social I thought this was one of your #LostFilmsOfHollywood...

Engineer Henry Royce (right) was introduced to London-based dealer Charles Rolls (left) in Manchester on this day 1904, creating the luxury car marque and later aero-engine manufacturing business.

I’ll be introducing a 40th anniversary screening of Highlander at Edinburgh’s Filmhouse tonight from 8.30pm - I’ll try and sneak in some new information I discovered from writing my new official book on the film, which is out in September.

"THE NATURAL fashions itself out of countless mythical yarns & spiritual traditions: Arthurian legends, The Odyssey, the Bible, the Persian dualistic cosmology of Manichaeism." - @oliviarutigliano.bsky.social

As ever, Michael Billington is characterised by his enthusiasm for the show... #FestivalOfBritain www.theguardian.com/stage/2026/m...

Turns out the BBC adapted ‘Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep?’ for radio in 2014, with James Purefoy as Rick Deckard and Jessica Raine as Rachael. youtu.be/W1-lvVVPEcQ?...

'Morning... youtu.be/9GPR848mhIs?...

It’s time once more for one of my favourite things ever. Written by @quantick.bsky.social #StarWarsDay

Savouring the second series DVD of Nightingales and "Crime and Punishment" is a beaut. #FromHereToPaternity

“Movies make us feel alive, connected. Cinema makes moments seem more than they were, as big as the Sphinx, as available for inspection, as gnomic, as here-and-not-here as life, as sensuous & intoxicating.” ~ ʻDear Orson Wellesʼ by Mark Cousins 📚 irishpages.org/product/crit... #BooksWorthReading

***ANNOUNCEMENT*** Coming on June 29th on Blu-ray and DVD in the UK from @studiocanal.co.uk as part of their #VintageClassics line: #TheYoungOnes (1961)! Starring pop music legend Cliff Richard (Summer Holiday, Wonderful Life) and instrumental rock band The Shadows