Opening titles for Valentine's Day: The Way We Were
The sole function of this opening title sequence from The Way We Were is to establish one thing: the different worlds inhabited by our two main characters, Jewish Katie Morosky (Barbra Streisand) and...
View ArticleOpening titles: Woody Allen's movies – and their unmistakeable typeface
Did you know that the typeface which has featured in nearly all Woody Allen title sequences (both opening and end titles) and posters since 1977 is in fact thoroughly British? It even has a uniquely...
View ArticleOpening titles: The Silence of the Lambs
In the famous interview scene between Anthony Hopkins’s chilling Hannibal Lecter and Jodie Foster’s vulnerable FBI trainee Clarice Starling in The Silence of the Lambs, Lecter speculates about...
View ArticleYou stupid boys! Don't remake Dad's Army
Is nothing sacred? What on earth has possessed film producers to make a new big screen version of Dad's Army? The actors – Bill Nighy as Sergeant Wilson, Toby Jones as Captain Mainwaring – are both...
View ArticleJohn Hurt and the secret of Marlon Brando's pink hair
We are at the end of the Cannes Film Festival, one of those times of the year, like the days around the Oscars, that shift the film world into top gear. Huge film festivals such as Cannes are of...
View ArticleRemembering Henry Mancini
Henry Mancini, who died 20 years ago today, wrote his most accomplished song "Moon River" specifically with Audrey Hepburn’s vocal range in mind. “Hank”, as he was called, worked out from her singing...
View ArticleWhy animated films are the UK’s favourite – and why that’s not likely to change
America’s Fox television network calls its Sunday night schedule “Animation Domination”. That would make a good label for the current state of the British box office. In 2013 animation became the...
View ArticleRobin Williams dies: depression is a cloak of lead, a toxic second skin
Robin Williams, the shockingly talented actor and comedian whose performances in Dead Poets Society and Good Will Hunting inspired as many minds as his Mrs Doubtfire and stand-up routines delighted,...
View ArticleGreat British Bake Off smut: Ooh, Matron! Why innuendo comes so easily for...
The Great British Bake-Off has been attacked for its use of innuendo – endless talk of soggy bottoms and popping Mary Berry's cherry. It's not very funny, it's true. But that's because the choice of...
View ArticleSherlock Holmes on screen – the best five
With a new exhibition at the Museum of London on the great detective, opening today, it's time to examine his appearances on screen. He is the most regularly acted character in the history of film, but...
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