Tom Jolliffe looks at a golden period in action movie scores and some of the maestros who composed them… What is the golden age of action movies? This is of course a rhetorical question. It’s undoubtedly the 1980s. A time of such unique flair and style. Big, bold, brash, silly, sometimes ironic. It was a […]
Wry, Prophetic, Smart and Brutal: RoboCop at 35
Tom Jolliffe looks back at RoboCop, Paul Verhoeven’s ahead-of-the-curve masterpiece, as it turns 35… Okay creeps. Dead or alive, you’re coming with me… to look back at RoboCop. The dead part might be a bit much, but I’m sure you’re game. The iconic sci-fi actioner is 35 years old. There is a huge weight behind […]
Northman the Barbarian: How Conan Courses Through The Northman
Tom Jolliffe looks at the similarities between The Northman and Conan the Barbarian. Spoilers follow… After success and masses of acclaim for his small scale masterworks The Witch and The Lighthouse, director Robert Eggers went large scale in his third outing. The Northman is a big budget Viking revenge epic. In every way, it’s the […]
Conan the Barbarian: An underrated work of art which ushered in a decade of imitators
Tom Jolliffe takes a look back at Conan The Barbarian, often overlooked for its artistic merits… There were a number of archetypal films which became popular during the 80’s. Some fads lasted longer than others, whilst some died out. The success of First Blood (but more-so Part 2) would usher in a stream of one […]