OUT OF THE CAST - THE FILM NOIR PODCAST

Another podcast appears! The Curmudgeon (myself) has started a brand new podcast series exclusively for film noir. From episode to episode, myself and a guest will discuss various instalments into the film noir canon. Join Green Ornstein and I as we trawl through Fargo season 1 (2014), the snow-swept neo-noir continuation of the Coen Brothers' '96 classic.

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How A Silent Voice changed my life - a salute to Kyoto Animation

Written by The Curmudgeon I n 2017 I watched a film for the first time which perfectly embodied my experience with depression. The story and themes captured not just the symptoms of my personal depression, but also a cause. It so succinctly sliced through the confusing bullshit of my mind. It cracked a code. I’m talking about A Silent Voice (2016) . I feel indebted to this movie because it somehow found a way to explain my depression better than I ever could. It gave me words when there were none. It made depression feel like a less lonely place, perhaps just because I had something to compare myself to. I’d like to delve into how the film affected me and how I read into it personally. This is not a review, nor is it an exhaustive essay claiming to understand what the film is ‘about’, per se. This is simply my own take on a film which affected me in a totally idiosyncratic way. And, as always…spoilers ahead. A Silent Voice revolves around two kids: a...

Carole and Tuesday vs. Kids on the Slope - Part 1.

Written by The Curmudgeon SPOILER WARNING: The following contains spoilers for both Carole and Tuesday and Kids on the Slope . Go watch them first if you don't want the plot spoiled. If you have seen them, or you just don't care, read on! I love Shinichiro Watanabe. I love ‘im. He’s responsible for some of my favourite things; from Cowboy Bebop (1998) – smart, sombre, and slick – to the utterly hilarious and bizarre Space Dandy (2014) , he’s got a style that suits me just fine. Although it’s unlikely he’ll ever make something which moves me quite like Bebop , he always finds a way to imbue his work with such panache. Also, he wears sunglasses all the damn time. I’m not kidding, it’s actually challenging to find out what this man’s eyes look like. The problem is that he doesn’t helm too many original titles. As such, when Watanabe’s most recent series, Carole and Tuesday (2019), debuted this year, it made some serious waves. Something about this...

Blade Runner - the choice to be human

WARNING: Spoilers ahead... Written by The Curmudgeon “M ore human than human” – the slogan which describes the synthetic, artificial life forms of 1982’s Blade Runner . These life forms are known as ‘replicants’. In the world of Blade Runner, replicants appear human - they’re sentient, intelligent, and capable of feeling. They are but slaves to their homo sapiens overlords. As much as they would like to be, they aren’t human – they can’t be. And they’re equipped with an in-built 4-year life span to keep things that way. They are totally stripped of their agency. Thus, the “more human than human” concept is also the conceit by which the replicant rebels, led by Roy Batty, fuel their upheaval. When replicants revolt, it’s down to the Blade Runners – replicant hunters – to “retire” them from service. Among them is Rick Deckard, a lone detective who’s lumped with the responsibility of relentlessly hounding Roy Batty, the replicant deuteragonist, when he defects. Al...

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