Tag: film

Fated to love, or fated to die – this blog is a review of ‘Fireworks’ by director Guisseppe Fiorelli, and the use of the history of homophobic hate and queer redemption in the Giarre murders and its aftermath in the history of Sicilian Gay Liberation movement.

February 22, 2026

Fated to love, or fated to die – this blog is a review of ‘Fireworks’ by director, and the use of the history of homophobic hate and queer redemption in the Giarre murders and its aftermath in the history of Sicilian Gay Liberation movement. I am currently reading an amazing and beautiful novel about how … More Fated to love, or fated to die – this blog is a review of ‘Fireworks’ by director Guisseppe Fiorelli, and the use of the history of homophobic hate and queer redemption in the Giarre murders and its aftermath in the history of Sicilian Gay Liberation movement.

A week of Hamlets: [1] To start, there is a tendency to see Shakespeare’s character Hamlet as a part nightmare dream version of one’s autobiography. Riz Ahmed has won the prize for the finest version of such projects.

February 10, 2026

A week of Hamlets: [1] To start, there is a tendency to see Shakespeare’s character Hamlet as a part nightmare dream version of one’s autobiography. Riz Ahmed has won the prize for the finest version of such projects. For a long time, literary critics have insisted that to see elements of the biographical in the … More A week of Hamlets: [1] To start, there is a tendency to see Shakespeare’s character Hamlet as a part nightmare dream version of one’s autobiography. Riz Ahmed has won the prize for the finest version of such projects.

‘The History of Sound’: the silenced noise of the non-performative queer story.

January 25, 2026

I saw the new Oliver Hermanus film today, The History of Sound, with Geoff and dear friend Catherine. before going I had make the terrible mistake of seeing some of the reviews of the film, all it seems by people hardly equipped to speak of film as art, for this is precisely what this film … More ‘The History of Sound’: the silenced noise of the non-performative queer story.

That place is in the eyes and is the creation of the cognitive-affective machinery we all possess. It can even be simulated as if we were there in a fine performance, consciously enacted.

December 2, 2025

That place is in the eyes and is the creation of the cognitive-affective machinery we all possess. It can even be simulated as if we were there in a fine performance, consciously enacted. We saw a fine multi-award winning film last night: Since The Last Time We Met, by Matìas de Leis Correa, a brilliant … More That place is in the eyes and is the creation of the cognitive-affective machinery we all possess. It can even be simulated as if we were there in a fine performance, consciously enacted.

An alternate universe is, for me, sitting in a cinema that is entirely empty but for your presence, waiting to see the end of a film that keeps freezing at the same place. Getting to see ‘The Hidden Master: George Platt Lynes’ less alternatively at home on DVD.

August 4, 2025

The Electra suite of the Tyneside cinema at 1.10 p.m. on Friday 25th July The events of Friday 25th July are a fitting image of an ‘alternate universe’, so I’ll describe those. I had planned to see a new film, one just released in the UK at least,Sam Sahid’s biographical and art documentary of the … More An alternate universe is, for me, sitting in a cinema that is entirely empty but for your presence, waiting to see the end of a film that keeps freezing at the same place. Getting to see ‘The Hidden Master: George Platt Lynes’ less alternatively at home on DVD.

“It’s a poetic way of thinking about history, where materials themselves tell the story of power, fragility, and change”. Ali Cherri speaks of his art as ‘speaking through materiality’ in order to ‘reclaim the space of storytelling’. Losing ‘track of time’ is really a phrase we use when we track time not by the clock but by the qualitative meaure of its process in the way we tell stories, even hi-story.

July 7, 2025

“It’s a poetic way of thinking about history, where materials themselves tell the story of power, fragility, and change”. Ali Cherri speaks of his art as ‘speaking through materiality’ in order to ‘reclaim the space of storytelling’. [1] Losing ‘track of time’ is really a phrase we use when we track time not by the … More “It’s a poetic way of thinking about history, where materials themselves tell the story of power, fragility, and change”. Ali Cherri speaks of his art as ‘speaking through materiality’ in order to ‘reclaim the space of storytelling’. Losing ‘track of time’ is really a phrase we use when we track time not by the clock but by the qualitative meaure of its process in the way we tell stories, even hi-story.

I think it must be being a film critic for I surely could not do a worst job than some! LOL. Malcolm Bradshaw, the film critic for ‘The Guardian’, I am told, says he thinks ‘Sinners’ would be a better film without the ‘supernatural element’. Yet this is the first film ever to understand the beauty of the mythology of the vampire in a way that matters. This blog tries to say why.

May 6, 2025

I think it must be being a film critic for I surely could not do a worst job than some! LOL. Or perhaps a comedian! Have you heard the one about the old man who in his youth survived a vampire attack that turned his friend into a vampire? One night in a bar, his … More I think it must be being a film critic for I surely could not do a worst job than some! LOL. Malcolm Bradshaw, the film critic for ‘The Guardian’, I am told, says he thinks ‘Sinners’ would be a better film without the ‘supernatural element’. Yet this is the first film ever to understand the beauty of the mythology of the vampire in a way that matters. This blog tries to say why.

‘WIND AND SEA SOUND, vast and heavy, subside before words resume’. A reflection on Tennessee Williams.

March 11, 2025

A collage of features of the first play mentioned below, This is not my copy though it is identical and has the signature As I clear my bookshelves, cataloguing what I keep and dispensing the rest to fate, I occasionally start reading them. My collection of Tennessee Williams’ work is though sacrosanct and none will … More ‘WIND AND SEA SOUND, vast and heavy, subside before words resume’. A reflection on Tennessee Williams.

Amy Liptrot says of the film based on her personal story, ‘The Outrun’, that it has transformed her life ‘into art, something bigger than me: ….. One of the themes … is the link between mental illness and addiction and the desire to reach for extremes. This film-making process has been another example of these extremes. I am amplified, cinematic, extra-real’. A blog on ‘The Outrun’.

September 30, 2024

Amy Liptrot in The Observer on the 22nd September says of the film based on her personal story, The Outrun, that it has transformed themes in her life ‘into art, something bigger than me: ….. One of the themes of The Outrun is the link between mental illness and addiction and the desire to reach for extremes. … More Amy Liptrot says of the film based on her personal story, ‘The Outrun’, that it has transformed her life ‘into art, something bigger than me: ….. One of the themes … is the link between mental illness and addiction and the desire to reach for extremes. This film-making process has been another example of these extremes. I am amplified, cinematic, extra-real’. A blog on ‘The Outrun’.