The Film Authority practices good housekeeping…

In case you were wondering, my desk is over a hundred years old; it’s huge, and has formed the central base of a large and ever increasing pile of films on disk that have been towering over me for several years. Although I don’t actually buy DVD’s per se, I do tend to accumulate them, and my collection had reached from the floor to the ceiling by the time the first signs of structural problems began to show. Some kind of seismic shift, potentially caused by unqualified catties interfering among the central pillars of the mega-structure, reminded me to swiftly remove champagne bottles and other breakables for safety. It was therefore with resignation rather than surprise that I heard the entire edifice noisily collapse the other afternoon, spitting precious Chevy Chase DVD’s around the room and leaving the carpet covered in disks, cases, toys and other cinematic ephemera.

What does all this mean? Much as I’ve enjoyed the epic scale of this holy mountain of films, at the foot of which I’d sit like a 21st century Captain Nemo basking in the shadow of his enormous organ, it’s probably time to sell or donate all but the most prized items. This change of course in the physical world coincided with bringing up a milestone for this website; on schedule, we’re bringing up the half million readers mark, with over a quarter of a million views in the last twelve months indicating rapid growth. Content is king, and I would be remiss not to thank the loyal publicists who took a chance to provide film access back in the days when I was scoring a peak of four readers a month. I should also pay tribute to all the august, trenchant, literate voices (and they know who they are) who make the comments section such essential reading for cultural historians worldwide.

Such humble-bragging aside, I’m also celebrating 20 years of creating bespoke content for The List magazine, an events guide with a physical magazine as well as an online presence that has miraculously survived a pandemic which dictated that there were no actual events to cover for long periods. Returning to the fray, The List pitched a great article, a comparison of the streaming reboots of Dead Ringers and Fatal Attraction; there’s a link to the finished text here. With great performances from Rachel Weisz and Lizzy Caplan respectively, these are female-orientated reboots that neatly balance out the male dominance of the 80’s originals, and I may cover the shows here in their entirety once their runs are complete.

And lastly, I made a mistake and want to talk to you about it. Monday’s review of John Huston’s Wise Blood will remain in place for now, but it’s not up to the standard I’ve set myself recent reviews, which few quotes or evidence to back up my usual hyperbole. I’d republished the article from a couple of years back, when only a handful of people read these things, and should have re-watched Wise Blood to ensure that this rare film got its due; this will be rectified. With Netflix now the only streaming service committed to not-observing exhibition windows, cinema seems to be looking up after years of Covid-based insecurity, and this blog will continue in the hope of capturing that renaissance on a day-by-day basis. Poorly constructed efforts from the past may well fall around our ears with an inevitable bang, but hopefully with your valuable help, we can build a better cinematic world together. Thanks for reading.