Flickering Myth

Geek Culture | Movies, TV, Comic Books & Video Games

From Hard Boiled to Soft Boiled: Why John Woo’s masterpiece will never be matched again

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Tom Jolliffe revisits John Woo’s action masterpiece Hard Boiled… John Woo had already made quite a name for himself in China, thanks to hit action classics such as A Better Tomorrow and The Killer. In 1992 he released the film which would see him transition from Hong Kong director, to Hollywood. The film was Hard […]

Nikita vs Anna: When Luc Besson Retraced His Steps

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Tom Jolliffe looks back at the film which broke Luc Besson out to the world, and his more recent and pale imitator, Anna… Cinema is almost bereft of an original idea these days. There are very few that arrive which feel like something unique, and even then, the smart-arses among us might start pinpointing similarities […]

The Magnetic Brilliance of Sean Connery

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Tom Jolliffe looks at the career and lasting legacy of the late Sean Connery, one of the most charismatic screen presences in cinema history… Cinema mourns the passing of another icon. For many this one will pack a weighty punch. Sean Connery was the man who became the first major face of a franchise we’re […]

The Halcyon Days of the Video Store Experience

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Tom Jolliffe casts his mind back to the era of video stores – a rite of passage for people growing up in the 80’s and 90’s… During my early years the infrequent but welcome visits to the local video shop brought with them, a huge wave of excitement. Perhaps second only to a cinema outing, […]

What Makes a Great Horror Concept?

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Tom Jolliffe on what makes a great horror concept… No doubt many film fans will be having a particular focus on the horror genre right as we work our way to Halloween. The genre is loaded with the great, and the not so great (and everything in between). The key to horror has always been […]

The Alternative Halloween Viewing List

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Tom Jolliffe offers up a selection of non-horror films to watch this Halloween season, which might just be prescient enough to be horrific… Halloween’s just for horror right? Well what if we’re not watching horror? What if we’re watching action or sci-fi or comedy? It may just be that some of these films have a […]

The Battle for Vampire Superiority: The Lost Boys vs. Near Dark

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Tom Jolliffe presides over a showdown between the cult 1987 vampire flicks The Lost Boys and Near Dark… The vampire has sucked his merry way through cinema history, from the silent era, to the R-Patz era. We’ve seen many incarnations, many genres, from Christopher Lee to angsty teens, from horror to camp comedy. Perhaps the […]

Jean-Claude Van Damme at 60

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As Jean-Claude Van Damme celebrates a milestone birthday, Tom Jolliffe looks back at a career that has seen box office success, and flirtation with a comeback as a critically acclaimed actor… If you even have a passing appreciation of late 20th century action cinema, you’ll know very well who Jean-Claude Van Damme is. You’ll probably […]

Let The Right One In: A Masterpiece of Poetic Horror

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Tom Jolliffe looks back at the seminal vampire film and why it remains one of the best movies of this century… The memory of seeing this for the first time still feels fresh, but Let The Right One In, is now as old as its central protagonist Oskar (12 years old). I hadn’t caught it […]