For the love of Cine
Film recomendations and musings from a professional arse sitter
So hello and welcome to my little film blog, sofa spud. I’d just like to clarify straight off the bat that while I fancy myself as a bit of a film buff, most of the films I intend to feature you will most likely have heard of, if not have already seen yourself. I’m under no illusions as to what this blog will achieve or the impact it will have on film studies or the film industry.
It’ll be more ‘I know this really cool, indie gem about a massive ship ploughing into an iceberg’ than ruminations about the third wave of Argentinian horror, or anything like that.
Having said that, I take film REALLY fucking seriously, as anyone who has had the audacity to glance at their iphone while being cajoled into watching one of my favourite titles with me will attest. And I’m really happy to be writing about it, even if only three people (and two of them are Niall and Bryanna) read it.
It’s really strange that in actual real life, I am one of the least observant people in existence. My best mate could turn up to meet me wearing a gimp suit and I’d probably not even notice. But when I’m watching a film, I notice and remember every single little thing-sights ,sounds and the feelings they invoke.
I sometimes even find that a completely inconsequential line of dialogue or a few chords from the score of a film I watched once in the 90s will come back to me out of nowhere. (Next time you get on the circle line, tell me the ‘doors opening’ noise doesn’t sound like the theme from Hook).
For some reason that stuff has always got under my skin, I don't know why.
I had to get hold of my long dead Irish Grandad’s birth certificate to get Irish citizenship recently(fuck Brexit) and was delighted to learn that my great-grandfather was a projectionist in a Dublin cinema in the 1920s. I’m sure in twenties Ireland you took any bloody job you could get, but I like to think that it was his desired trade and that the passion has seeped down the gene pool.
I pride myself on being good at picking films for the mood, sort of like a DJ or a…Sommelier if you will. So I’m really evangelical about giving someone a good recommendation when they’re heartbroken, or want to forget they live in the 21st century for a little bit, need a good cry or are just insanely hungover and need soothing.
Therefore, I’m hoping that as the blog gets going and you're get tired of swiping through Netflix and its weird, non-categories ,passive aggressively saying “I don’t mind, you pick…” for the 300th time that hour to your flatmates/fella- you might consult some of my recommendations.
Film has helped me get through some of the darkest times of my life, so if it can get just one of you through Sunday blues, it’ll be worth it.
I’m a creature of habit, so most of the films will be ones I love that I’m revisiting. I might also devote a couple of entries to titles I think are horrendously overrated, just to be an argumentative bell-end and I might occasionally go to the cinema and review something new- but I’ll mainly leave that to Mark Kemode, I think. Don't want to steal his gig, or anything.
Hope you enjoy!
MGN lion roar
So hello and welcome to my little film blog, sofa spud. I’d just like to clarify straight off the bat that while I fancy myself as a bit of a film buff, most of the films I intend to feature you will most likely have heard of, if not have already seen yourself. I’m under no illusions as to what this blog will achieve or the impact it will have on film studies or the film industry.
It’ll be more ‘I know this really cool, indie gem about a massive ship ploughing into an iceberg’ than ruminations about the third wave of Argentinian horror, or anything like that.
Having said that, I take film REALLY fucking seriously, as anyone who has had the audacity to glance at their iphone while being cajoled into watching one of my favourite titles with me will attest. And I’m really happy to be writing about it, even if only three people (and two of them are Niall and Bryanna) read it.
It’s really strange that in actual real life, I am one of the least observant people in existence. My best mate could turn up to meet me wearing a gimp suit and I’d probably not even notice. But when I’m watching a film, I notice and remember every single little thing-sights ,sounds and the feelings they invoke.
I sometimes even find that a completely inconsequential line of dialogue or a few chords from the score of a film I watched once in the 90s will come back to me out of nowhere. (Next time you get on the circle line, tell me the ‘doors opening’ noise doesn’t sound like the theme from Hook).
For some reason that stuff has always got under my skin, I don't know why.
I had to get hold of my long dead Irish Grandad’s birth certificate to get Irish citizenship recently(fuck Brexit) and was delighted to learn that my great-grandfather was a projectionist in a Dublin cinema in the 1920s. I’m sure in twenties Ireland you took any bloody job you could get, but I like to think that it was his desired trade and that the passion has seeped down the gene pool.
I pride myself on being good at picking films for the mood, sort of like a DJ or a…Sommelier if you will. So I’m really evangelical about giving someone a good recommendation when they’re heartbroken, or want to forget they live in the 21st century for a little bit, need a good cry or are just insanely hungover and need soothing.
Therefore, I’m hoping that as the blog gets going and you're get tired of swiping through Netflix and its weird, non-categories ,passive aggressively saying “I don’t mind, you pick…” for the 300th time that hour to your flatmates/fella- you might consult some of my recommendations.
Film has helped me get through some of the darkest times of my life, so if it can get just one of you through Sunday blues, it’ll be worth it.
I’m a creature of habit, so most of the films will be ones I love that I’m revisiting. I might also devote a couple of entries to titles I think are horrendously overrated, just to be an argumentative bell-end and I might occasionally go to the cinema and review something new- but I’ll mainly leave that to Mark Kemode, I think. Don't want to steal his gig, or anything.
Hope you enjoy!
MGN lion roar