SPARKS

[Alex Robertson]

Hitchcock’s The 39 Steps starring Robert Donat was on BBC2 today…another pleasant little film…it was followed by North By Northwest (but I didn’t get a chance to watch that one)

[Crabby]

Talking of Hitchcock....l watched Shadow of a Doubt a few days ago...apparently Hitchcocks favourite film.....it really is a joy and wonderfully dark in places,and Joseph Cotton is superb.

[Crabby]

The Wicker Man and Don't Look Now on BBC4 now.... no sleep for me tonight (it's too warm anyway)
The Wicker Man is one of my all time favourites!

[Spyke]

I still remember the first time I watched The Wicker Man, and the ending came as quite a shock to me at the time, which isn't really recaptured on subsequent viewings. It's one of the best examples of 70s 'folk horror', among a lot of other works on TV as well as film.
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"but we can hear what others can't hear..."

[Crabby]

Totally agree Spyke...the ending of Wicker Man still makes my stomach churn a bit...l put it down to Edward Woodwards superb acting ..his fear,disbelief and sheer nausea about what's inevitable is wonderful (in a really unpleasant way!)
For me it never pales.....
Folk horror at its absolute best!

[Crabby]

My goodness, l wonder how Leos Carax feels about being the inspiration for a team name on Only Connect?? 😂

[Alex Robertson]

Not a film but Bookish by and starring (Sparks fan) Mark Gatiss, is a delightfully dark murder mystery series.
I’m applying great restraint and not binge watching. Apparently a second series has been commissioned.

With no connection at all…the new series of Mandy starts tonight, I WIIL binge watch it and possibly more than once!

[Crabby]

That Mark Gatiss series has received some good reviews....

I'm filling in the time until the local film club starts again in September by amusing myself with some Sparks related movies (some of the links are very tenuous).....
Watched The Forbidden Room (Guy Maddin) at the weekend....of course it has that wonderful Final Derriere song......
The film itself is a bit of a white knuckle ride....l loved it .
Just when l thought Leos Carax was a bit surreal....along comes Guy Maddin!! 🤣

[Crabby]

Just watched The Haunting (the original version).....lve seen a few clips but never the whole film.
What a great little creepy film.....absolutely wonderful!
I believe it's been remade but l can't see how they would improve on it.

[Buckeye Randy]

For the first time since it was released…Sgt. Peppers with Frampton and Bee Gees.

There is something fun about rock movies from this era. Rock n Roll High School, Roadie, Heavy Metal, American Pop and I’m sure there are others. We would see these as part of a double feature at the drive-ins with Cheech and Chong movies.
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Billy, Don't Be A Porter

[J. Prufrock]

I didn't see them in theaters, but I have fond memories of Rock 'n' Roll High School and Heavy Metal, and also Rock and Rule. In a just USA, the Debbie Harry/Robin Zander duet from the latter film would have been at least as big a hit as certain songs from Grease - and Lou Reed sang the villain's songs!

[Alex Robertson]

Deep Cover…found this by accident whilst surfing Netflix, didn’t really have high expectations but was pleasantly surprised by how much I enjoyed it.
Bryce Dallas-Howard, Orlando Bloom, Nick Mohammed, Paddy Considine, Sean Bean and Ian McShane…so a fairly stellar cast but that doesn’t always bode well…but it worked well because they used that tried and tested rule of comedy…”play it straight”.
A genuine delight!

[Buckeye Randy]