The first finished copies of my new book on Hammer Films - Don't Dare See It Alone! - have finally arrived. Pre-orders start shipping next week. Meanwhile you can order yours from me direct at ko-fi.com/avalard/shop... Or via amazon amzn.eu/d/042KmfSU

So, for reasons best known to its useless AI mods, Facebook has deleted the Obverse Books page, and removed all 1000+ followers. We've created a new page, so if you're on FB and want to keep up with Obverse news there, rather than here, this is the new link: www.facebook.com/profile.php?...

Cannot wait to get started! www.patreon.com/posts/world-...

Scorsese and Schrader's examination of cultural crisis and its inadvertent side effects in Taxi Driver (1976). A long read for its 50th Anniversary. medium.com/cathode-ray-... #Filmsky

From my piece on Manhunter, observations on Tom Noonan's layered performance: cinephiliabeyond.org/manhunter/

World of Telly returns on Thursday February 26th with an episode dedicated to UFO. We'll also be releasing details of all the shows we hope to cover this year very, very soon.

Learned a few fun facts researching CASABLANCA. dcairns.wordpress.com/2026/02/17/t...

#NowWatching ALL THAT JAZZ (1979). Director: Bob Fosse. Roy Scheider, Jessica Lange. In mood to rewatch some Fosse, Fosse, Fosse with sublime autobiographical portrait. Winner of 4 Oscars & Cannes Palme d'Or, this all-timer is likely to (spoiler alert) get 5 stars from me. No surprise. #filmsky 📽

Sign if you want Royal Mail to simply *do its job* 👉 38d.gs/RoyalMail_SM... #RoyalMail #RoyalFAIL?

Happy #LGBTQHistoryMonth everyone. 🏳️‍🌈

RIP Tom Noonan, a friend for 18 years. Often typecast as villains, he was an actor's actor, a unique playwright & filmmaker, a gifted composer, and a pianist with a sweet voice. My kids & I used to go to his tiny apartment for dinner (pizza). We'd have a few drinks & he'd start to play. Magic.

“You used to be big,” Gillis says. Norma responds, “I am big. It’s the pictures that got small.” Billy Wilder’s masterly metatextual satire of Hollywood fame and madness, Sunset Boulevard. #Filmsky My review boxd.it/dbzZ3j

This is the Gov looking for your input on the BBC. It takes a while to complete (15/20 mins) but it’s pretty comprehensive and covers most aspects. Please share. I’m surprised many people haven’t seen it yet. www.gov.uk/government/c...

An evening devoted to Kenneth Williams begins at 7.20pm on BBC Four. Photos taken by Don Smith in February 1967 for @radiotimes.bsky.social

Dear BBC Archives... A letter to thank you for Mañana, the Ibsen collection and more, to express my disappointment at how in certain ways you fail to treat these precious fragments with proper respect, and to suggest how you could do things better. www.illuminationsmedia.co.uk/dear-bbc-arc...

I cannot overstress how fucking constantly we were working

R.I.P. legendary pop songwriter Billy Steinberg. He co-wrote "Like A Virgin," "True Colors," "Eternal Flame," "So Emotional," "I Drove All Night," "I Touch Myself," "I'll Stand By You," and more classic hits. stereogum.com/2489382/lege...

QUEER BRITAIN 2.0 We’re proud to reveal the first themes of our six new rotating displays, exploring different aspects of queer life, history and culture. 🎟 Book now: link.outsavvy.com/9084latb – Images from Queer Britain

I absolutely feel for those teachers who utterly burnt themselves out to get a curriculum online during the pandemic. I witnessed it as I was working for a pre-degree international school at the time so I know how fucking hard they worked. All these suits just feel like a massive slap in the face.

RIP Robert Duvall: as central to American film as anyone in his generation

The BBC doing what the BBC does. The article cites a widely popular rewildng campaign with 18k donors & huge community support. The ONLY dissenting voice is a tenant farmer with a vested interest. And yet… the headline 🤷🏼‍♂️ This isn’t balance. It’s propaganda for eco-destroying farmers.

Here's my pencil artwork of Joan Crawford in the killer Strait-Jacket from 1964 🪓

... yeah, I bloody loved ENYS MEN... boxd.it/aZ9tID

This is a film for anyone who liked ENYS MEN; and I bloody loved ENYS MEN...

Heated Rivalry: first two eps a slog. Eye candy without the soul. Two irritating leads.Third episode finds a groove about being closeted in sport. Plus brings in two new characters from the periphery. Irritating characters come back for rest of the series but the soul clicks in. It starts to work!

Managed a couple of hours going through the shooting script to identify the cut scenes/dialogue. Some interesting omissions - a few lost in the cutting room I believe - that underline certain themes in the film. Looking forward to writing this up.

A few ruminations about Tarkovsky’s The Sacrifice. Rewatched about a year ago and just watched again this weekend. I think I first saw it on release in 1986, probably in either Bristol or Cardiff. It’s stayed with me for years. #Filmsky boxd.it/d9u8OX

Saw these fan-made mock-ups over on Facebook of Peter Cushing Dr. Who Character Options dollies:

Just looking through some old comics and found a mail order advert for Small Prophets

Happy Birthday GALE SONDERGAARD! 🎂 Known for her velvet beauty & chilling villain roles, won an Oscar for ANTHONY ADVERSE and intimidated stars in films like THE CAT AND THE CANARY. Most memorably, she haunted Bette Davis in THE LETTER. My #MovieReview 👉 youtu.be/IhUVWZs5IgQ?... #MovieSky

Done a bit of research today but my back’s agony today so concentrating for more than a couple of hours was difficult.

Stanley Baker klaxon! Hell Drivers is on at 11.35 this morning. Great film, splendid cast.

🏳️‍🌈LGBT+ History Month special!🏳️‍🌈 In this interview, Dr @jgreenwoodreeves.bsky.social shares the creative and collaborative influences behind his work, including @lawsadrag.bsky.social, a network that brings academics and drag artists together to explore lived experiences of law.👇 tinyurl.com/bdekpr99

Almodovar’s debut is chaotic, rough, vulgar and captures post-punk, post-Franco Madrid. Dodgy sexual politics aside, its female characters and settings herald Almodovar’s signature. #Filmsky boxd.it/d8gt1l

The Women’s Institute was pressured to exclude trans women by the threat of litigation brought and paid for by JKR’s legal fund. So now the newly trans-hostile WI groups are haemorrhaging members and many groups are folding, closing opportunities for all women. Well done JK and the GCs, eh?

Happy Birthday, THELMA RITTER 🎂 Six Oscar nominations. She should have won all of them! Here she is in the performance she deserved a seventh for: REAR WINDOW. Alfred Hitchcock adored her. Who didn’t? My Ritter #MovieReview Playlist 👉 youtube.com/playlist?lis... #MovieSky

Card for my boyfriend on VD Day. The sutured heart is a private symbol between us. My boyfriend is a doctor who did a surgical residency. (Like my dad also did.) This symbolizes him stitching up my broken and wounded heart, which still has scars but which he went a long way towards healing.

Scorsese and Schrader's examination of cultural crisis and its inadvertent side effects in Taxi Driver (1976). A long read for its 50th Anniversary. medium.com/cathode-ray-... #Filmsky

This piece is so much better than the pull-quote. It’s a beautiful profile of a fascinating brave strong woman and I urge you to read it.

Producer George Pal showing a Martian fighting machine prop from The War of the Worlds to Tony Curtis and Janet Leigh, who were filming Houdini on a neighboring Paramount Pictures lot (1953) #scifi #waroftheworlds #1950s

Praise for our book Penda's Fen: Scene by Scene, @greavesian.bsky.social's definitive exploration of the classic Play for Today from script to screen. Available now from tenacrebooks.co.uk

Ignore the stupid pull quote. It’s a great piece. Teared up at “I still love, and to love, really, is … is human. And I think to live without love is probably one of the saddest things for the self, for the heart, so I don’t want to live without love ever again.” www.theguardian.com/artanddesign...

Pillion stars Harry Melling and Alexander Skarsgård unzip the film's leather looks 🖤 Watch the full interview: boxd.it/eR4 Pillion opens in US theaters on February 6 via A24

The website I originally wrote this piece on female composers is now gone, so I decided to put it back up on my blog - enjoy! #filmsky

🧵I watched Forbidden Planet last night. Hadn't seen it for decades. A super-intelligent race is destroyed, despite its technological advances, by its own subconscious primitive fears and greed, 'the monster of the ID'. Hashtag AI, etc. Anyway, couldn't help but notice how the film influenced others.

Super exciting postal delivery today from @gaystheword.bsky.social: The Log Books by Tash Walker and Adam Zmith! I’m really looking forward to reading it. The Log Books podcast is also brilliant: auntnell.com/projects/the...

For anyone watching Harold and Maude this weekend, recently the lovely Roddy Woomble talked to @90minfilmfest.bsky.social about one of his (and my) favourite films. He captures how perfect it is and I wish I was screening it again at valentines this year! www.90minfilmfest.com/episodes/har...

You all saw the guidance that went out yesterday for trans kids in schools. Absolutely horrific stuff. This is how the right wing papers are covering that news. Times, Mail and Telegraph all have it on their front page, the first two as their main story of the day. Guardian's coverage included

Last five watched. Tony Curtis brilliant as a serial killer, week in the life of legendary UK drag artiste Maisie Trollette, provocative Pasolini dig at the bourgeoisie, Hammer courtroom drama, reopening old wounds in a married couple’s 45-year relationship. #letterboxdfriday #letterboxd #FilmSky 🎥