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Waiting for Petar: Beckett in a Storm
It probably comes as no surprise to discover that I like my cinema to be cerebral. Don’t get me wrong, I am more than happy to take a ride through explosions with Will Smith in Bad Boys or skid under lorries to the strains of Axle Rose in Terminator 2. But sometimes, especially when it…
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The Lore in the Landscape: Revisiting Hills and Forests of the Past
One touch of nature makes the whole world kin. Troilus and Cresida, Act 3, scene 3 William Shakespeare This morning saw a rare opportunity to return to a place of my past. Twenty years ago, I moved to the Sussex coast, seeking a more idyllic life, away from the concrete of the New Town of…
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Chills from a Childhood
Memories of a 70s landscape I have been wondering how to frame this post as it is one that deals with memory. A warning to the curious, this might end up being a wandering and fragmented piece. When considering my relationship with horror and the uncanny, I frequently revisit things from my increasingly distant childhood.…
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When ‘Murder Poppins’ arrives
Laughs galore in this witty exploration of manners and murder in the suburbs – The Unfriend written by Steven Moffat and directed by Mark Gatiss What do you do when murder arrives clutching its suitcases at your door? Do you sit it down with a nice cup of tea or do you take it by…
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Enys Men
A haunted Cornish landscape dir Mark Jenkins, 2023 As I am sure most interested parties will now know the Enys Men of the title of Mark Jenkin’s film is not reference to the male of our species but to the Cornish name ‘stone island’. This is our setting and it is one that is remote,…