Stuff and Things

When thinking of great films starring the legend that is Jack Nicholson, few would immediately name this 1973 cult classic. However, Jack himself considers this his finest moment on screen, famously stating "I did it in that movie. That was my best role" . When you watch this largely unheralded gem again now, it's not hard to see why.  At the dawn of 'New Hollywood', Hal Ashby became quite an important figure. However, by 1973 he was coming off the back of the abject failure of 'Harold and Maude' (1971), both critically and commercially. By now that film has also achieved something of a cult classic status, but back then this perceived misstep made Ashby most unbankable in the eyes of exec producers around the globe. This was a time when 'The Godfather' (1972) had just become a colossal smash and a new vanguard of directors were revolutionising the way films were viewed as an art-form and as an industry. Who had time for a micro-budget, slow-burnin...

Tis the spooky season once more and thus time to revisit a film that, at the time of it's release, had a massive cultural impact, not only spawning multiple sequels but also spoofs and an almost entire new genre of hyper-aware teen slasher/comedy flicks for good measure. Directed by the 'sultan of shock', Wes Craven, and penned by future Dawson's Creek creator Kevin Williamson, this film serves as the almost perfect amalgamation of both of these men's sensibilities - blending dreamy, beautifully lit, quick-witted high schoolers and horrific violence.  It tells the story of the residents of Woodsboro, California who are falling prey to a knife-wielding, mask-wearing, maniac who likes to terrorise his victims over the phone before ripping them to shreds. However, the sub-text here is that the very tropes that Craven helped to create in the horror genre are constantly referred to, thus creating a sort of meta-effect that weirdly keeps the mood light despite the grim pr...

The unearthing of cinematic gems from days past is easier than ever. Where it used to take hours scouring video shops or bargin buckets or car boot sales, now one can cruise the internet for all manner of films. You don't even have to leave the comfort of your own backside. The process can be organic - maybe you read a book that makes reference to a film, which you then look up and watch - or it can be more studied, i.e. you find an actor or director (or sound engineer, or key grip, or fluffer) whose work you admire and seek out their entire canon. Either way, it is often a process that produces mixed results. For every 'Sorcerer' (1977) , there is a 'Cutter's Way'.   After aimlessly scrolling through the bowels of Amazon Prime for a while, this film popped up. Jeff Bridges is in it, so you know it can't be all bad and there's John Heard. What an actor that man is, you find yourself thinking, in fact, it's a crime that Heard wasn't a bigger star...

Having gone from the slums of New York City, to active duty in the US Marine Core, to platinum-selling artist, to now BBC Radio 2 DJ who lives quietly in the suburbs of Brighton, it is safe to say that Huey Morgan has lived quite a life. With his band, the Fun Lovin' Criminals, Huey managed to carve out a sub-genre that really only contains one band. I'm not sure anyone else has ever considered putting out wiseguy-inspired, hip-hop-influenced, brass-band-led, punk music apart from this lot. That said, their brand of smooth, funky, punky, vibes made a major splash in Europe in the 1990s and their debut album remains a timeless piece of New York City folklore. Huey, in particular, became something of a star with his smoldering good looks and 'friend of ours' persona. This led to multiple more albums and even a worldwide tour supporting none other than U2 - arguably the biggest band in the world at the time.  So how did Morgan get there? Well, after years of teasing, we fi...

Today the shock news broke that Michael Eugene Archer, better known as D'Angelo, passed away at the tender age of 51 years old. As such, the world has lost one of the most brilliant artists of our time and one who left a trail of incredible music in his wake. So it is only appropriate that we pay homage by reviewing one of the greatest albums of the past 25 years, certainly the greatest soul album by some distance, the year 2000-released, meandering masterpiece that is 'Voodoo'. To put this record in some context, in 1995 D'Angelo burst on the the music scene with his debut album 'Brown Sugar' - a jazzy, ultra smooth, throwback to the soul greats of the 60s and 70s, that album was chock-full of instant classics and D'Angelo became, perhaps unwittingly and very reluctantly, the godfather of what was termed at the time 'Neo Soul'. A dreadful title to bestow on anyone, I think we can all agree.  Indeed this became a problem pretty quickly for D himself....

By now, the Wu Tang Clan has become a global brand, their 'W' symbol recognised almost the entire world over. This is inexplicable for many reasons. For starters, their music is about as hardcore as hip hop gets. Take 'Protect Ya Neck' for example. Nine MCs (yes, NINE) rap over what sounds like a home-made cassette and there is not a chorus in sight. However, the song is a stone cold classic that still slaps as hard today as it did when released and somehow became a crossover hit. Not to mention that the collective comes from one of the roughest neighbourhoods in New York City, and therefore America itself. Many have previous convictions. Many have been shot. Indeed the RZA - the group's de facto leader - was almost imprisoned on an attempted murder charge before the group was ever formed. So the fact that they have become part of the cultural lexicon in places like Stuttgart, Germany is absolutely absurd.  However, a large part of that success has been the appeal o...

"That rug really tied the room together" What happens when you take an abject stoner with no discernible income, skillset or education and throw him into the middle of a Raymond Chandler-eqsue noir thriller? This is the question that the Coen Brothers came to the table with when conceptualising this film. Coming off the back of the critically lauded and quite brilliant 'Fargo' (1996), the Coen Brothers, as they have tended to do throughout their career, followed up a dark crime saga with something more light of heart. The result is a timeless cult-classic that has spawned some of the most beloved characters ever committed to film and such a fanatical following that it has its own festival - centered around just one film.  Where to start? Well, you simply cannot start anywhere but with The Dude. He is introduced as one of the laziest men in Los Angeles County - which would make him a reliable candidate for the laziest man on earth - meandering around a supermarket in h...

Along with Quentin Tarantino, and arguably Steven Soderbergh, Paul Thomas Anderson is one of the last great auteurs from the 90s independent movement still making culturally relevant films today. Widely considered by critics as one of the greatest filmmakers of his generation, his canon is held in extremely high regard. From the wild exuberance of 'Boogie Nights' (1997) to the towering 'There Will Be Blood' (2007), to the criminally underrated 'The Master' (2012) this is someone capable of a wide range of cinematic brilliance and as such, most of his releases are met with intense anticipation among movie-lovers.  Enter 'One Battle After Another': the director's first collaboration with international icon Leonardo DiCaprio and backed by a whopping $175M budget to play with. This promised to be Anderson's biggest swing for the fences yet. Indeed Warner Bros press release kit promised 'an all-out action thriller' and the thought of a directo...