Classic Hollywood Film and Lifestyle with a dip into the underside, the seedy and off beat through the eyes of Canadian Writer TERRY SHERWOOD.
Stories about quick jabs and combinations get to me. Boxing has figured a lot in film. It is a double edged blade as the fight game was depicted as a last resort for poor people or a dubious game of revenge controlled by nefarious folk that doesn’t end well. It does not help that I... Continue Reading →
Rising out of this was the birth of the exploitation film of the fifties and sixties. Exploitation became linked with the evils of drugs and alcohol, the pregnant out of wedlock pre code films and the cheap programmer designed to fill a bill. Everyone has watched or seen bits of REEFER MADNESS (1936) or NARCOTIC... Continue Reading →
People tend to forget story comes from a printed page, be it a screenplay treatment, a novel or short story. Hollywood of yesterday was a fountain head of searching for the story in the headlines or the best seller lists. Today, film still comes from various sources. Concepts can be re imagined or remade;... Continue Reading →
Bram Stoker’s character has become Shakespearean in scope. Each characterization fits a mood or time in society when the work or the production is done. I approached this picture with some doubt as I had initially poor memories of it in the cinema. Viewing it again on DVD was a very pleasant surprise. The Dracula... Continue Reading →
Truck driving has been a noble occupation in film as it makes for fascinating story ideas. You can have material being smuggled, be it people or arm chairs. Some of the best are ARMOURED CAR ROBBERY (1955), THEY DRIVE BY NIGHT (1940) and the tension filled classic THE WAGES OF FEAR (1953). Fruit, weapons, booze,... Continue Reading →
Months back I wrote a piece for a different site on streaming services for Horror film lovers. It is not hard to figure out that this delivery system is the new way to get entertainment delivered to your phone, tablet, and television if you have the necessary tech available such as uninterrupted and robust bandwidth.... Continue Reading →
Hard boiled detective stories are lovely fodder for film. The dark streets full of grime, corruption and broken bottles and dreams coupled with spent cartridges. This is the world of Mickey Spillane’s Mike Hammer at its cliché best with all the trimmings of a blue plate special with poison gravy. Bit over the top? Yes.... Continue Reading →
I am sure we all read some of the biographies of the stars, hoping to get some insight or dirt. Loads of these works are out there; from the 'unauthorised' label with many books being written by the studio press people or the newspaper columnist of the time. These people tend to write these owns... Continue Reading →
Sixties film making has a particular niche and creators pressed new subject matter and techniques. The rise of the 'biker film,' thought to be low budget drive in fare for the teenagers more interested in making sure the 'wild oats' were well stowed away. Many of these films were training grounds for people like writer/... Continue Reading →
