The Fabelmans, the latest film from Steven Spielberg, is a semi fictionalised account of the director’s early life. That’s in no way apparent from the title which sounds more like the name of a 1950’s family sitcom. That title, however, not only reminds us that this is not a straight biopic but it’s largely about family and the values the
Read moreStephen Spielberg’s Ready Player One is an enormous nerdgasm, a sprawling big screen video game stuffed with retro pop culture references and teen geek heroes. Based on the 2011 Ernest Cline novel, the film is a love letter to gamer culture which means some are going to adore it while others may find it alienating and headache-inducing. The film propels
Read moreSteven Spielberg’s The Post is part of that cinematic sub-genre, the investigative journalism film, an auspicious club that contains Spotlight, Zodiac and at its pinnacle, Alan J Pakula’s Watergate classic, All The Presidents Men. The Post almost seems like an attempt at a prequel to that film as it details the explosive story of the Washington Post’s quest in 1971
Read moreSteven Spielberg has a penchant for making films about quiet, steely, morally upstanding men who defy authorities to effect vital change in society. He eloquently explored this type of character in the Schindler’s List and Lincoln and he addresses a similar theme in the impressive if not utterly compelling Cold War drama Bridge Of Spies. The film tells the surprising
Read moreMichael Lloyd has for more than 40 years been producing hit records and soundtracks, earning more than 100 gold and platinum records along the way. Some of the artists he’s worked with include: Frank Sinatra, Dionne Warwicke, The Moody Blues, The Monkees, Sammy Davis Jr., West Coast Pop Art Experimental Band, The Smoke, Cotton Lloyd & Christian, etc., etc.
Read moreAbraham Lincoln is such a towering and mythic figure in American history it seemed inevitable that American cinema’s great story teller Steven Spielberg would make a film about him. Lincoln is not, however, the emotionally manipulative epic we might have expected from Spielberg, instead it’s a dour, low-key and thoughtful look at an introspective and conflicted man. Like the Hitchcock
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