Behind the Scenes: Selling Movies To The Exhibitors
We tend to view movie marketing as the business of selling movies to the general public. What we forget is that in order for a cinemagoer to attend a showing of an individual film in a particular cinema, that the movie has to be rented by said cinema and before that can happen someone has…
Two or Three Things You Don’t Know About Me
Two or three things you don’t know about me. Firstly, I run a second-hand bookshop in Paisley, Scotland, called Abbey Books. Secondly, I have a massive collection of movie posters, pressbooks, magazines and what-have-you. And, thirdly, I’ve connected these interests in an exhibition of movie memorabilia on the walls and bookcases of the shop. You’ll…
Should I Marry A Murderer? (2026) **** – Seen on Netflix
A great title for the most compelling true crime television tale since Staircase (2004). And for much the same reason. The main character is tricky. We are accustomed to fictional characters being economical, flexible or downright evasive when dealing with the truth and it seems that trend has spread out to non-fiction. The odd thing…
Sinbad and the Eye of the Tiger (1977) ***
You can usually rely upon Ray Harryhausen to rescue any picture. But he’s got his work cut out in this leaden enterprise weighed down by nepo kids. One nepo kid would be bad enough but some bright spark had the terrible idea of pairing the son (Patrick) of John Wayne with the daughter (Taryn) of…
Behind the Scenes: Let’s Gripe – “The Exhibitor Has His Say,” March 1967
One of the most appealing features of Box Office trade magazine was that once a fortnight it cut out the baloney, ignored all the glossy ads trumpeting a studio’s next big hit and the editorial that promised a golden future, and got down to the nitty-gritty of how movies performed once they were way down…
The Christophers (2026) ***
Britain has an unusually large quota of national treasures in the acting department. Manage to put the ageing Judi Dench, Helen Mirren, or Ian McKellen (Meryl Streep would be the only American contender and look at how she’s been re-born at the box office in The Devil Wears Prada 2)) in front of a camera…
The Parallax View (1974) ****
The shocking ending ensures the need to re-evaluate everything you have seen. The middle film in Alan J. Pakula’s paranoia trilogy – after Klute (1971) with All the President’s Men (1976) to come – is a dark (in more ways than one) reflection in essence on the John F. Kennedy assassination. The superbly stylish, on…
Blue (1968) *****
Easily the most underrated western of all time. Few people saw it on release and precious few since. If remembered at all, it’s for reasons of movie trivia. Robert Redford got into a legal fight with Paramount when he pulled out of the starring role. And it was what was being shot in the background…
Della (1964) ***
At this point in her career Joan Crawford was more of a holy terror than a femme fatale. So audiences came at her movies expecting the worst even when she was still dolled up to the nines, hair coiffed within an inch of its life, outfits immaculate or someone would pay the price. Oddly enough,…
Battle of the Bulge (1965) ***** – Seen at the Cinema in Cinerama and 70mm
Cinerama was the IMAX of the day and far superior in my view in many aspects not least the width of the screen. IMAX goes for height but I’m not convinced that compensates for lack of the widest screen you could imagine. So the chance of seeing this in the original Cinerama print, 70mm and…
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The Magnificent 60s 