Author Archives: Joe Nolan
Harder Sounds
After posting about Rockers yesterday, I realized we’re celebrating the 45th anniversary of The Harder They Come (1972) this year. Both films are usually found at the top of any list of reggae music films. For me Harder is a fun, flashy crime genre flick about an antihero on the run, but Rockers is a [...]
Rocksteady ROCKERS
Along with The Harder They Come (1972), Rockers (1978) helped to bring reggae and Rastafarian culture to the big screen, and I’ve been busy writing up a review of Rockers in anticipation of the film’s showing at the Belcourt Theatre’s Music City Monday screening of the movie next week. The film is focused on a [...]
Justice: AI
Today I stumbled upon this BBC tech story about the latest advances in replacing lawyers using AI… Amid the dire – and somewhat overhyped – predictions of occupations that will be decimated by artificial intelligence and automation, there is one crumb of comfort. Yes, lorry drivers, translators and shop assistants are all under threat from [...]
Rakka Roll
On Halloween night I was watching the original Halloween film — John Carpenter’s first masterpiece pioneered the slasher genre, provided us with an unforgettable score, and introduced the world to Jamie Lee Curtis. The flick is a classic of course even if it’s still controversial in some circles. Given the season I’m assuming that interested [...]
Creepiest Comics
Well it’s almost Halloween and I’m planning to keep the blog spooked-out right through the eerie evening. I’ve been posting a lot about horror films, but of course books are also good for a great scare, and comics provide both the deep reading of a words-on-the-page experience with the king of lurid visuals that we [...]
Very Scary CARRIE
I’m still bingeing on horror films during this last week before Halloween: I had a recording session last night but before I ran to the studio I caught the second half of the original Child’s Play film and the opening of its sequel. The Chucky marathon was part of AMC’s Fearfest scary cinema programming, and [...]
Kubrick: Acid Fascist
My last Kubrick post was well-received so I’m going back to Rob Ager to share another one of his videos deconstructing the master. Ager has done lots of analysis of Kubrick’s work, and this take on A Clockwork Orange is good for October because it touches on a contemporary horror… Please subscribe to my YouTube channel where [...]
Crowley Outloud
I’ve got a bit of a difficult film writing assignment hanging over my head this week so rather than posting another horror film post, here’s a selection of recordings from the 1920′s and 1930′s featuring Aleister Crowley reciting occult poetry in both English as well as the Enochian language that Queen Elizabeth I’s court wizard [...]
Dark in THE SHINING
Getting the week started correctly, here is another scary cinema post in this last week before we’ll all celebrate the season with treats or tricks. I might argue that 2001: A Space Odyssey is Stanley Kubrick’s most innovative, ambitious, and visionary film. But The Shining is my favorite Kubrick flick, and it’s one of the [...]
