The Aberdeen Bestiary, One of the Great Medieval Illuminated Manuscripts, Now Digitized in High Resolution & Made Available Online

I've had a longstanding assignment in Film History that asks students to interview an older family member about their earliest memorable film experience. It's led to some fascinating accounts, including outdoor screenings in China immediately after the Cultural Revolution, mobile screenings...

Kenneth Anger #BOTD. How I wish he’d actually got round to publishing those Memoirs he promised me back in 1995!

My latest article is out today: ‘Juvenile Enculturation in a Time of Change: The Early Years of the “Boys’ Cinema Weekly”’ out today in Journal of Modern Periodical Studies. doi.org/10.5325/jmod...

Yes www.theguardian.com/commentisfre...

As it’s officially Blue Monday, I thought I’d cheer myself by opening up this old wooden apple, which was originally my Mum’s and has been around for as long as I can remember. How cute is this?

🎉 Can you believe Wikipedia is 25 years old? 🎂 A quarter-century of free knowledge—built on a simple but powerful idea: show your sources. That commitment to citations is one of our favorite things about Wikipedia. ℹ️📚🔍 🧵⬇️ (1/5) #Wikipedia25 #WikipediaDay @wikipedia.org

We've got another folklore film screening for you this month, partnering with our pals at Norfolk Folklore Society to bring Carnival of Souls (1962) to the big screen! 🗓 Wednesday 28 January, 8.30pm 📍Cinema City, Norwich 🎟 Tickets here: www.picturehouses.com/movie-detail... Poster by Matt Willis

HEART OF STONE (Das kalte Herz, dir. Paul Verhoeven, GDR, 1950), DEFA’s first fairy-tale film, looking lovely in Agfacolor, was a delightful finale to our annual fairy tale retrospective.

Scandalous! The January season of pre-Code Hollywood movies starts at Picturehouse cinemas this Sunday. First up: THE PUBLIC ENEMY. Read more here: www.picturehouses.com/blog/scandalous #precode

Juraj Herz’s THE NINTH HEART (Czechoslovakia, 1979) proved a worthy follow up to the previous year’s BEAUTY AND THE BEAST. Bonus points earned for the fabulous opening titles by Eva Švankmajerová and Jan Švankmajer.

We revisited NEW ADVENTURES OF PUSS IN BOOTS (Aleksandr Rou, USSR, 1958) for yesterday’s fairy-tale film offering: Rou’s first venture into the genre after the ‘film famine’ of the post-war years. Pictured: the ever-wonderful Lidiia Vertinskaia.

BEAUTY AND THE BEAST (Juraj Herz, Czechoslovakia, 1978) is a macabre marvel: the first screen adaptation I’ve seen that comes close to rivalling Jean Cocteau’s seminal 1946 adaptation.

Producer/puppeteer Lou Bunin’s little-known feature adaptation of ALICE IN WONDERLAND (dir. Dallas Bower, France/UK, 1949) centres on delightful stop-motion animation amid strikingly minimalist sets. I especially liked the giant puppy.

We continued our fairy tale film season with THE PIED PIPER OF HAMELIN (dir. Bretaigne Windust, US, 1957). This Technicolor musical extravaganza was the first pre-recorded made-for-TV feature film. Claude Rains sings, and even dances a little. (Ignore the 1966 poster’s claims of Eastmancolor!)

Scandalous! I curated a short season of pre-code films with Rose Butler for Picturehouse Cinemas. Think of it as a festive gift to enliven your January and banish its upcoming blues. Read more here: www.picturehouses.com/blog/scandal... #precode

Next in our annual fairy tale film season: MOROZKO (Father Frost, dir. Iurii Zheliabuzhskii, USSR, 1924), released shortly before the escalating political war against fairy tales saw them disappear from Soviet screens for more than a decade.

We began our annual fairy tale film season with the very groovy, live-action folk revival adaptation of THE SNOW MAIDEN (Snegurochka, dir. Pavel Kadochnikov, USSR, 1968).

Watch The Amazing 1912 Animation of Stop-Motion Pioneer Ladislas Starevich, Starring Dead Bugs

A new review in for my book about Aleksandr Rou.

Lindsey Vickers, the lovely chap who made THE APPOINTMENT, has died. I've written a tribute to him here: www.bfi.org.uk/features/lin...

Bela Lugosi and Boris Karloff drink tea on the set of THE BLACK CAT (1934).

RIP Adam Greenberg He was the superb cinematographer who shot Near Dark (watch it!), Terminator 2: Judgment Day and, of course, The Terminator, which means he’s responsible for one of my favourite shots in cinema that also coined a new genre for its film:

Celebrate Day of the Dead with the mesmerising MACARIO (dir. Roberto Gavaldón, Mexico, 1960). Here’s a short piece I wrote about it for @sensesofcinema.bsky.social: www.sensesofcinema.com/2025/cteq/fr...

Your crumpled correspondent proudly plugging SHORT SHARP SHOCKS VOLUME 4 - out very soon on BFI double disc Blu-ray. A plethora of peppery peculiarities are contained herein! Don't miss it.

Having never had the opportunity to see this brilliant film at the Pictures, I'm looking forward to what will be the LONDON CINEMA PREMIERE of THE APPOINTMENT this Sunday...

Not long now until this rare chance to see two fantastic BFI Flipside releases up on the big screen at Picturehouse Cinemas around the UK: THE APPOINTMENT (5-8 Oct) and FULL CIRCLE: THE HAUNTING OF JULIA (13-16 Oct). I can’t wait!

BOOK REVIEW: The films of Aleksandr Rou: Father of Soviet fairy-tale cinema: Studies in Russian and Soviet Cinema: Vol 0, No 0 - Get Access www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10....

💥New book review💥 Find out more about the book 👉ow.ly/971m50WXt28

Read Deborah Allison’s annotation on Macario (1960) in @sensesofcinema.bsky.social www.sensesofcinema.com/2025/cteq/fr...

I wrote about one of my favourite films for @sensesofcinema.bsky.social‬. ‘From Märchenland to Mexico: MACARIO’s International Fairy-Tale Journey’. www.sensesofcinema.com/2025/cteq/fr...

Britain's greatest comic actor? Probably, for a decade or so: theartsdesk.com/film/blu-ray... @studiocanal.com @vicpratt.bsky.social #petersellers #britishcinema #bfi

I wrote about weird and creepy title sequences in #RogerCorman movies for ‘Fantastic Fifties’ no. 25, which is out now from Hemlock Books and looks like a great issue. You can read more about the history and design of opening credits in my book ‘Film Title Sequences: A Critical Anthology’.

Any reference to “damsel tied to the tracks like a silent movie” gets this still

If anyone's interested in reading my article about the 'Boys' Cinema Weekly' but doesn't have the institutional library access to make it past the paywall then please feel free to DM me.

Did some writing. My latest article, ‘“The Delight of Real Boys”: Male Role Models in the Silent-Era “Boys’ Cinema Weekly” Fan Paper’, is out now in Historical Journal of Film, Radio and Television. www.tandfonline.com/doi/abs/10.1... @iamhist.bsky.social

#ECLIPSE - #SimonPerry’s slippery 1977 psychological thriller starring #TomConti and #GayHamilton returns - @realjohncarvill.bsky.social is glad to see it back from the vaults after almost 50 years - now on #BFI #Flipside Blu-ray www.theartsdesk.com/film/blu-ray...

Was METROPOLIS (1927) the purveyor of the cinema’s first robot? No! This week’s viewing: the 1919 American serial, THE MASTER MYSTERY, starring Houdini being outperformed by ‘Q’, the evil automaton.

After the BFI Flipside Blu-ray launch screening of ECLIPSE, writer-director Simon Perry and key cast Tom Conti, Gay Hamilton and Gavin Wallace all joined me for a discussion. Edited highlights here... www.youtube.com/watch?v=Q_KA...

Aleksandr Rou’s lyrical MAY NIGHT (USSR, 1952), adapted from Gogol’s enchanting short story, ‘May Night, or the Drowned Maiden’ (1831), inspired by Ukrainian folklore and filmed in northern Ukraine. #AleksandrRou #FolkloreThursday

I’m still pleasurably ruminating on ECLIPSE (1977), the latest BFI Flipside rediscovery, seen at BFI last night and followed by a very engaging cast and director Q&A hosted by @vicpratt.bsky.social. A strange, intriguing and unnerving Scottish chamber piece, restored and out on Blu-ray now.

Simon Perry's strange, splendid ECLIPSE (1977) - BFI Flipside Blu-ray 51: compelling performances by Tom Conti and Gay Hamilton! Sterling support from Gavin Wallace (age 9 1/2)! Eerie electronica! Rugged 'Coastal Gothic'! I've written about it here... www.bfi.org.uk/features/ecl...

A fascinating look behind the scenes of BFI Home Entertainment as Vic Pratt explains what a Blu-ray producer does. youtube.com/watch?v=BowM... @vicpratt.bsky.social

Vic Pratt pays homage to villainous mad geniuses, introducing the entertainingly silly 'The Crimson Circle' at BFI Southbank earlier tonight. @vicpratt.bsky.social

#BOTD Aleksandr Rou (1906-1973), father of Soviet fairy-tale cinema, and director of many wonderful films including Vasilisa the Beautiful (1939), The Magic Weaver (1960), The Kingdom of Crooked Mirrors (1963) and Jack Frost (1964). New book out now from Intellect Books. #AleksandrRou #АлександрРоу

Looking forward to getting stuck into this big beautiful beast – a new and expanded upgrade to the very good 2019 first edition. The deluxe colour hardback looks gorgeous. 50 extra pages, and I’m excited that it now has a full index! LIGHT INTO INK by S. M. Guariento #novelizations #movietiein

Optical Poems by Oskar Fischinger: Discover the Avant-Garde Animator Despised by Hitler & Dissed by Disney

Officially out in hardback today (or next Friday if you’re in America) – my new book, ‘The Films of Aleksandr Rou: Father of Soviet Fairy-Tale Cinema’. #AleksandrRou

Saw the Kirk Douglas-starring, Billy Wilder-directed Ace In The Hole (1951) on Sunday, part of Picturehouse's ongoing noir season. Great film and a timely reminder about how human misery can quickly become a media circus. Good notes here @deborahuk.bsky.social www.sensesofcinema.com/2021/cteq/th...

My latest book has arrived: ‘The Films of Aleksandr Rou: Father of Soviet Fairy-Tale Cinema’. Thanks to the hard work and patience of the wonderful team at Intellect Books, I think it’s looking lovely. #AleksandrRou