Tag Archives: john hurt

Midnight Express (1978) a racist agitprop?

Part morality tale, part prison crime drama, part culture-shock with a young American held in a Turkish prison, the story is told with such conviction and painstaking detail as to be both heralded for its truthfulness and condemned for being a racist diatribe against an entire country. Alan Parker’s film, based on the non-fiction book by William Hayes (the protagonist of the story) with William Hoffer, was sold as “based on a true story” but there was plenty of meddling with the truth between Parker and then burgeoning screenwriter Oliver Stone (who won an Oscar for his script). Continue reading

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Miranda

Miranda is a film of moments that do not add up to the sum of its 93 minute story. One might find this is the result of a director whose primary work has been in British mini-series, a short coming magnified on the big screen where there is no respite or a welcome intervention by television commercials. Continue reading

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44inch Chest (2009)

The only draw back I can see with this style of filmmaking is losing the audience that requires quick cuts, naked women with machine guns, oh and car chases to call a movie a movie. However disproportionately large or small they might be, I call this a movie you’ll enjoy watching and look forward to watching again. Continue reading

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