Flatscreen televisions? As opposed to what, a black and white CRT with wood panelling? A flatscreen just a standard television and has been for roughly two decades now.

#SundayCinema announcement! 👀 #Noirvember continues courtesy of @princeymovies.bsky.social as we - *curious synth notes start playing* - Er, we get a bit kinky this week, with Brian De Palma's wild voyeuristic thriller, Body Double (1984)!

If you don't at least get a BIT of a wet eye during Gish's closing monologues, WHERE IS YOUR SOUL!? Wonderful first pick @anabelat.bsky.social, it's always a delight and a true sadness that Laughton never made another film. @princeymovies.bsky.social up next week! #SundayCinema

And just like that, Harry's got a faceful of buckshot, the big scary man, leaping off into the barn like a wounded cartoon animal. #SundayCinema

Gish really, really brings a tear to my eye when she reacts so empathetically to Ruby's confession. Imagine Harry reacting to that, the switchblade would probably be involved. She's not taken in by his shit, she immediately believes John. #SundayCinema

Mitchum was not initially convinced of Lillian Gish as being a counterpart to Harry, seeing her as "fragile". Laughton screened Mitchum a scene from one of her earlier silents where she did some crazy stunt over a waterfall and said "I wouldn't do that!" So, convinced he was! #SundayCinema

So, another set bound, silent film inspired visual delight of Harry on the horse. Forced perspective somewhat in that it's actually a little actor on a small pony. #SundayCinema

Of note; the whole river sequence is a soundstage shoot, which really amps the surreality of the film up. The pretty fly song is magic. #SundayCinema

One other Mitchum/Laughton story I learned from Laughton's biography; on a car ride, Laughton came out to Mitchum, who simply replied "No shit!" and then joked "Stop the car!" They became fast friends after that. #SundayCinema

Mitchum really amps it up from here on out, it's clear of course from frame one that Harry's a bastard, but now he is EXTRA. When Laughton cast him, he told Mitchum that the character was a "diabolical shit". Mitchum simply replied "Present!" #SundayCinema

On my very first viewing, the eeriness of this is where the weed really started to kick in and the film had a hold on me. #SundayCinema

The look of this scene! It's so gorgeous. You'll notice as the film goes on, it becomes more and more set-bound and surreal in its staging and lighting. #SundayCinema

Yeah, the grownups are IMMEDIATELY taken in by his performance and he's like "no, absolutely not". The wisdom of children. #SundayCinema

My understanding of how Laughton directed this was that there was obviously the novel and a pretty weighty script, but he largely allowed the actors a fair amount of leeway in creating the tone. His idea for the look of it all was largely based around his love of silent film. #SundayCinema

"My whole body's just a-quivering with cleanness!" The film's full of funny little turns of phrase like that, I adore it. #SundayCinema

So, the influence of this film on later filmmakers is pretty massive, the Coens in particular. Spike Lee's Do the Right Thing also has Radio Raheem, who pretty much does the whole "left hand/right hand" speech. Also, weirdly influenced a LOT of music. #SundayCinema

Shelley Winters, one of the many stars of our very first SundayCinema, The Poseiden Adventure! She did bring a load of thematic weight to the film in conversations with director Charles Laughton, seeing her character as a fly, fascinated by a spider. #SundayCinema

The lovely Lillian Gish, coming at you from SPAAAAACE. Silent era queen. #SundayCinema

#NowWatching Night of the Hunter (1955) This lovely dark dream of a film. #SundayCinema

Once upon a time there was a pretty fly. He had a pretty wife, this pretty fly, But one day she flew away. Flew away. #SundayCinema

"I have this character who's a diabolical shit." "Present!" #SundayCinema

#SundayCinema reminder 📽️ Join us tonight at 8pm GMT for The Night of the Hunter (1955), the classic directed by Charles Laughton starring Robert Mitchum, Shelley Winters and Lillian Gish.

PREDATOR (McTiernan, 1987)

Bit of mood prep for tomorrow's #SundayCinema for you, this song basically taking lines of dialogue from Night of the Hunter and mashing them up in Tim Smith's usual and delightful pidgin English. www.youtube.com/watch?v=fwj3...

Thing that absolutely makes this is the haunted stare. Todd's such a tragic character, part discarded Action Man doll, part Frankenstein's monster. Badass in action, a lost child in spirit. Anderson's best if you ask me.

"Like a radioactive Godzilla movie"

GTA VI delayed until 2026 so that Rockstar can add more business names that would seem funny if you were a British man in the mid-2000s

Predator: Badlands (2025), kind of did a bit of an "eeeeh, dunno about this" when the rating came up and it said it was a 12 certificate, but then it was startlingly violent. Except all the gore is weird creatures and Wey-Yu droids, so... I dunno. Fun? I had a laugh. Not Predator 2, BUT WHAT IS

#NowWatching Predator: Killer of Killers (2025) A little animated aperitif to tomorrow's cinema trip that I've been told is good and I should watch, so I'll watch.

Some of the most amazing set bound, B&W cinematography you ever will see. #SundayCinema

RIP, Joe Byrd, mastermind behind two mind-bending classics: The United States Of America (1968) + Joe Byrd And The Field Hippies' The American Metaphysical Circus (1969). Get 'em both in all formats. He was true one-off, loved by Broadcast, Portishead, & many others. www.youtube.com/watch?v=YYAk...

Here's an easy, last minute Halloween costume

Love this one, another like Wages of Fear that I first watched very late, very bleary and it seeped into my dreams from that moment onwards. (plus I might have sampled the dialogue for a song more than once) Can't wait! #SundayCinema

It's a good laffer. As is the way with most post Young Frankenstein Mel ones, very hit and miss, but I think the hits outweigh the misses by a long way. Great fun @starwarssteve.bsky.social, everybody keep an eye out for @anabelat.bsky.social's pick next week, it is SPELLBINDING #SundayCinema

PLANET OF THE RECIEVED PRONOUNCIATION APES #SundayCinema

John Hurt stepping into the shoes of poor old Kane for this STOOPID gag, which as an Alien fan, ABSOLUTELY DELIGHTFUL. His little dancey legs! #SundayCinema

And just like that, the movie's over! Pretty fun, see you nex-WAIT, THERE'S STILL 16 MINUITES LEFT. #SundayCinema

The timpani player twatting him in the head, great. #SundayCinema

Kafka/metamorphosis joke, very highbrow for this film. #SundayCinema

The great screen weirdo Stephen Tobolowsky as the super pissy captain. #SundayCinema

Actor playing the king barely able to keep a straight face during that 12345 code gag. #SundayCinema

Look out! Mel's here to mug it the hell up as always! #SundayCinema

"Nice dissolve!" #SundayCinema

"Somewhere in the Ford Galaxy." SO, SO DUMB #SundayCinema

Nice to see The Twelve Chairs in there among those videos, wasn't Mel's biggest film, largely forgotten, but I really, really loved the performances in it. Unusual historical/tragi-comedy thing in his ouvre. #SundayCinema

"What's the matter Colonel Sanders? CHICKEN!?" The fucking dumbest, I love it. #SundayCinema

Candy doing the most perfect dog whine. #SundayCinema

Brooks regular Dom Deluise as the voice of Pizza the Hutt. Which is the dumbest fucking joke. A lot of the jokes in this are TURBO dumb and that's okay. I was saying as the new Naked Gun came out, there's not enough dumb comedies. (there are some really clever jokes in here too!) #SundayCinema

It was the 80s and all rock songs were required by law to begin with the singer going "oooOOOOOOOOooooh yeah!" #SundayCinema