Rewatched Lumet's MURDER ON THE ORIENT EXPRESS. Finney playing Poirot like the prancing ghost of a dying Old Europe alone makes this the best Agatha Christie adaptation.

#ThisNightIllWatchYour VHS rip of Nigel Dick's PRIVATE INVESTIGATIONS (1987). Never seen this one before. Curiousity piqued by the soundtrack LP I keep seeing in my local record store. Co-scripted by #JohnDahl.
Half an hour in and enjoying the heck out of it.

70s british folk rock duo album cover

The #BFI 4K release of #AkiraKurosawa’s #Yojimbo is something very special indeed. Not seen the film in maybe 20 years but it lives in my memory, beat by extraordinary beat. Beautiful presentation.

I've not got my copy yet but it was a great pleasure to write about #TroubleBound (1993) and, even more, to have the profound honour of director #JeffreyReiner fielding my questions about the film. Assembling the article was my own little tribute to #MichaelMadsen

Well, that's more than acceptable, I guess. Not surprised at all that #GregoryDark and #HarryDeanStanton were my "most watcheds" in 2025. #LetterboxdWrapped #GregoryHippolyte

Graffiti that, for a time, was emblazoned on the sea wall at the North Beach in Cleethorpes, on the Lincolnshire coastline.

I'm kind of thinking that #AbelFerrara's superb #neonoir FEAR CITY (1984) is quite, um, poorly represented by the only two quotes from the film that the IMDb list for it...

This from a film that has some superb lines (not these two) in its script.

It was an absolute pleasure to be a guest on this podcast episode. THE MIND OF MR SOAMES is a tremendously good little film, touching on some fascinating themes, with an exceptional performance from Terence Stamp.

"Anybody know why Richie did Bobby Lupo?"

You have good taste!

I often think about that Arthur Miller quote that opens John Flynn's OUT FOR JUSTICE (1991) and hope that some of the excised footage featuring more of William Forsythe's performance turns up someday.

"Anybody seen Richie," indeed.

#Fassbinder #WorldOnAWire

#TheMatteiAffair #FrancescoRosi

Presently, I feel a little bit like digging out my quad poster for Werner Herzog's COBRA VERDE and hanging it on my bedroom wall.

This is an excellent poliziesco. I remember writing about this one in an article many years ago, and connecting it to the Circeo Massacre and other Italian crime films that explored the issues that grew out of that crime (such as Imperoli's LIKE RABID DOGS). I've not revisited it in far too long.

I've recently bought the entirety of McDowell's Blackwater saga to read, having only dipped into it here and there previously. Looking forward to diving into the whole thing.

Well, that's more than acceptable, I guess. Not surprised at all that #GregoryDark and #HarryDeanStanton were my "most watcheds" in 2025. #LetterboxdWrapped #GregoryHippolyte

One of the most depressing films ever made. In a good way...?

Scarlet Street (Fritz Lang, 1945)
Eddie G is pitiful and Dan Duryea is superbly sleazy in this wonderful noir from Lang. The desperation in Chris Cross’ bond with crook Kitty is palpable. The way this acts as the catalyst for his already miserable life to fall completely apart is wrenching.

an executive plucked from his happy family and dumped in the cold, cold city where he forms a tenuous relationship with a streetwalker (Syliva Kristel). Sadly often overlooked in appraisals of Borowczyk’s work.

capitalism turns everything and everyone into a commodity. Little Joe Dallesandro’s deadpan performance is pitch-perfect in a film that requires his character to be a vague cypher: ...

La marge / The Streetwalker (Walerian Borowczyk, 1976)
Sex is, and in fact all relationships are, transactional in this richly textured film from Borowczyk. La marge has all the attention to mise-en-scène that defines Borowczyk’s cinema, and a strong indictment of the way in which ...

House by the River (Fritz Lang, 1950)
Haunting gothic noir in which a failed writer, with a sense of entitlement a mile wide, murders the housemaid after whom he has lusted, before dragging his innocent brother into the deadly mix. Beautifully directed, with a marvelous sense of place.

"Did you come to that conclusion out of patriotism or just greed?"
- Lew Harper (Paul Newman), THE DROWNING POOL (Stuart Rosenberg, 1975)

I can understand that. Felt the same way about this one for a long time. Bizarrely pertinent to current zeitgeist though. There are some great moments (largely thanks to Stanton) and the Basil Poledouris score is superb. (In fact, skip the film and listen to Poledouris' music 😁.)