Category: Film

Movies were always my first love but I’d been a technology reporter for almost a decade before I broke into entertainment in a serious way. I never imagined it at the beginning of my career, but tech actually gave me an edge as a movie and entertainment reporter.

I not only joined the throngs of other stringers going to junkets to interview great directors, actors and writers, my experience with computers, software and devices gave me a unique grasp of behind-the-scenes tools and skills.

I talked to puppeteers and engineers about the renaissance in animatronic robots. I tracked down and spoke to the writer/director of the first movie with completely CGI backgrounds (and have the distinction of being the first reporter he spoke to since the initial release, so burnt was he by its handling and so appreciative of my approach).

I’ve talked to editors about their lives and times, VFX animators about realistic worlds and stunt people about the field’s inherent dangers and how the industry occasionally lets them down.

And when publicists and gatekeepers have blocked me from the people or material I need, I’ve gone ahead and written the story from my own knowledge or gone straight to the source.

One other thing. As a longtime film reporter I’ve also been a critic for several publications, but you’ll only find a handful of examples of movie reviews on this site. The first reason is because there are literally hundreds of them going years back, and the second is because even if they were all here, I’d be doubling up. Since 2001 I’ve maintained filmism.net, which contains the reviews of every new movie I see and every old movie I’ve watched and includes all my professional reviews.

Spielberg’s Twin

The Steven Spielberg we know has been responsible for project after project that’s revolutionised not just the way we look at movies but the way movies are made. For the studio system, he reinvented Hollywood. Jaws was the Hollywood movie industry’s September 11 — it changed everything. … Continue readingSpielberg’s Twin

Directed By…

Picture the scene. A crescent of the Earth from space — silent, enormous, timeless. The blazing sun appears slowly from behind the disk, showering Earth with sudden light. A stately typographic element fades in; 2001. It’s all backed by the haunting strains of …Kylie Minogue’s Locomotion. … Continue readingDirected By…

Die Another Day

When Jason Bourne (The Bourne Identity), Harry Tasker (True Lies) and Xander Cane (XXX) were still wearing nappies, the ultimate gentleman spy had racked up forty years of bedding hot Eurobabes, crashing his way out of exploding underground strongholds and using superhuman skills to vanquish despotic villains. … Continue readingDie Another Day

The Blockbuster Backlash

The New Blockbuster had varying levels of depth of story, believability of character or directing/cinematographic talent, but they were characterised by one thing; computer effects that — when their results appeared on screen — thrilled us like nothing had before. … Continue readingThe Blockbuster Backlash