Max Renn was here

For those of you still persevering with the dwindling trickle of words on this blog I felt I owe you some closure. For a multitude of reasons, the main one being life having other plans I’ve rather lost the taste for sharing my musings online. As a friend of mine remarked recently, the world needs fewer opinions not more. So as of now this collection of reviews, essays, interviews, rants and generalised drivel is moving to being a legacy archive.

It’s nothing sinister, and I cannot stand people making a song and dance about packing in the trivial business of blogging, but now with a fond wave, I shall depart leaving a trace of glitter in the air.

Long live the new flesh.

Max

Cinema Rediscovered 2018: Taking the train uptown with Just Another Girl on the I.R.T.

My second and final piece from my time at last weekend’s superb four-day Cinema Rediscovered festival at Bristol’s Watershed Arts Cinema looks a Leslie Harris’ wonderful film Just Another Girl on the I.R.T. This was the centerpiece movie of the festival, used as key art on the festival poster and presented on a lovely 35mm print brought over to the West Country from the US by the film’s director. Despite having won a major award at Sundance and being released to acclaim in the nineties, this print is now only one. A shocking state of affairs.

New movies i’m excited about

STOKED!!!

Cinema Rediscovered 2018: Trapped in THE MAFU CAGE. When is a cult film not a cult film?

Shown as part of this year’s Cinema Rediscovered Festival at the Bristol Watershed, The Mafu Cage had me stumbling out of the cinema wondering WTF did I just watch… so I had to tell you about it.

Event preview – Cinema Rediscovered, Bristol Watershed and other venues, Thur 26th – Sun 29th July

Entering its third year the Cinema Rediscovered film festival has established itself as one of the most exciting cinematic events in Bristol’s arts calendar.  The four day festival aims to present audiences with an opportunity to re-experience a range of cinema from contemporary classics to rarities in the big screen setting they were conceived for. Here follow some personal highlights chosen from this year’s programme.

Game on! Spielberg’s Ready Player One is a delicious digital malt shake with cream and a cherry on top.

Here is my relatively spoiler free review of Ready Player One…

Hidden Gems – rediscovering American Mary

Jen and Sylvia Soska’s 2012 film American Mary is a highly original horror film that flew under the radar on it’s original release and is ripe for rediscovery (or maybe just discovery).

A Fantastic Movie

Out on UK screens this Friday (2nd of March) is Oscar nominated Chilean drama A Fantastic Woman. Here is my review, which be warned does include a few minor spoilers, so if you want to see it cold please read this post viewing.

BBC One’s Requiem could be the best British TV horror story in years

Sorry, it’s been a slow start to the blog in 2018 as life has got in the way. But here is my first piece of the year, an introduction to the BBC’s new horror series Requiem. 

My 20 favourite films of 2017 – Part 2, no’s 10 – 1 (but first the turkeys)

Continuing my countdown of my favorite films of 2017, a really amazing year at the movies. 

My 20 favourite films of 2017 – Part 1, no’s 20 -11

I thought 2016 was a good year to go to the movies bowling a vicious curve ball right at 2017’s shins. But 2017 has absolutely hit it out of the park. So good has the year been that some tremendous movies failed to make the cut despite being (I thought) near certain top 10 contenders when I saw them. Movies I loved like Logan, Get Out, and T2: Trainspotting just got edged out but a rewatch could make me regret not including any of them so slight are the margins that films in the bottom half of my top 20 are virtually interchangeable.

Here are numbers 20-11…