Amber Poppitt

Writer / Blogger / Artist / Photographer / Gamer / Runner / Film Lover / Fitness Fanatic

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'Sentient Cogs' - The Elephant Man

Curiously enough, David Lynch’s The Elephant Man does not open as a melancholic, heartbreaking tale of human tragedy, but rather more like an atmospheric gothic horror. As the film begins, we hear the deep hisses and thuds of colossal machinery, see close-ups of monstrous chimneys firing thick slabs of smoke into the night skies, and hear the ominous groans of freight ships stalking the invisible…

'Sentient Cogs' - The Elephant Man

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‘Enlightened Ghosts’ - Flight of the Navigator

Watching childhood favourites as an adult sometimes comes with its risks. A film you adored when your mind was fresh and impressionable can easily lose its gloss once your inner world grows more critical. Yesterday’s delights can quickly become today’s disappointments. Going into Flight of the Navigator for the first time in almost three decades brought about such worry in my mind. Would I come…

‘Enlightened Ghosts’ - Flight of the Navigator

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‘Nostalgic Outbursts’ - Once Upon a Time…In Hollywood

Over the last couple of months, I have become obsessed with the idea of re-editing commercially released movies from the comfort of my own study. I haven’t actually started cutting any footage yet. Instead, it’s more of a mental exercise at this stage. A daydream that lets me reshape existing films in my mind’s eye. This obsession kicked into gear after watching a fan edit of Prometheus and…

‘Nostalgic Outbursts’ - Once Upon a Time…In Hollywood

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‘A Casualty of Hindsight’ - The Legend of Ruby Sunday

Rewatching The Legend of Ruby Sunday from a place of hindsight, I cannot help but be reminded of the final trailer for J.J. Abrams’ Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker. To explain what on earth I mean by this, we need to cast our minds back to that specific slice of marketing from October 2019. That two-and-a-half-minute promotional clip featured a gorgeous, sweeping John Williams revision of the…

‘A Casualty of Hindsight’ - The Legend of Ruby Sunday

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‘Beasts Behind the Veil’ - A Clockwork Orange

In 1966, Dr Strangelove screenwriter Terry Southern introduced Stanley Kubrick to a novel he’d discovered through photographer Michael Cooper. The book in question was a commercially unsuccessful and polarising work penned by Anthony Burgess, written at a point in the author’s life when he was broke and desperately in need of a paycheck. At this stage in his career, Kubrick was locked into…

‘Beasts Behind the Veil’ - A Clockwork Orange

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'Echo of an Era' - Disclosure Day

When news broke that director Steven Spielberg was returning to his first mainline UFO film in over two decades, excitement amongst moviegoers was inevitable. He is, after all, one of the primary forces in shaping how audiences have imagined what alien encounters might be like for the better part of half a century. While he may not have been the sole architect of the UFO phenomenon, his 1977…

'Echo of an Era' - Disclosure Day

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'Transient Catalysts' - Doctor Who 1.6: Rogue

Broadly speaking, when it comes to Doctor Who, episodes typically arrive in one of two guises: traditional or radical. The former leans into a familiar, comforting structure. The Doctor and their companion land in a new environment, a threat emerges, and our hero outsmarts the villain before zipping off into the cosmos. While these traditional episodes span various subgenres, such as a base under…

'Transient Catalysts' - Doctor Who 1.6: Rogue

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'The Beast in a Romp Suit' - Doctor Who 1.5: Dot and Bubble

On the surface, Dot and Bubble looks like a more standard, fluffy instalment of Davies era Doctor Who. Murray Gold’s score is as bubbly as it often is, the colour palette more vibrant than James Cameron’s Pandora after sunset, costumes as camp as can be, and cinematography so crisp it would make a pork scratching envious. Even the monsters are as barmy as this show likes to make them on occasion.…

'The Beast in a Romp Suit' - Doctor Who 1.5: Dot and Bubble

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'An Alternative Era' - Doctor Who 1.4: 73 Yards

73 Yards is an episode of television that confuses me to no end. And no, I’m not referring to the obvious ambiguity perched at the heart of this story, but rather my subjective opinions toward the script itself. Whenever asked whether I like this one, I can’t quite land on a definitive or confident answer. I’m caught between shifting thoughts that alter depending on what part of the episode I’m…

'An Alternative Era' - Doctor Who 1.4: 73 Yards

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'Man's Intergalactic Best Friend' - Project Hail Mary

Spoilers Ahead I went into Project Hail Mary with high expectations, although those expectations were triggered largely by its trailers than anything else. I’ll admit, for as much as I love to read, I wasn’t familiar with the source material prior to the film entering its promotional cycle. Sure, I was aware of Andy Weir, what with The Martian getting a Ridley Scott adaption during the previous…

'Man's Intergalactic Best Friend' - Project Hail Mary

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'Smouldering Dreams' - Avatar: Fire and Ash

Spoilers Ahead There’s a peculiar missionary zeal that comes with being a lifelong James Cameron fan. For as long as I can remember, I have desperately wanted to bring others into the fold, yearning for them to feel exactly the way I feel when confronted by his storytelling. Ever since I was a young child, Cameron’s films have evoked a joyous alchemy of wonder and melancholy that other directors…

'Smouldering Dreams' - Avatar: Fire and Ash

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Ctrl Alt Critique - Batteries Not Included (1987)

Prepare yourself, gorgeous Critters, for this week the Ctrl Alt Critique crew are resisting eviction and plugging themselves into Matthew Robbins’ 1987 sci-fi fantasy, Batteries Not Included. Join the trio for some high-voltage absurdity. Bailey reveals his twisted blueprint on how to deter Mr Lacey’s contractors, pitching a disturbing method of getting the adorable ‘Fix-its’ to execute some…

Ctrl Alt Critique - Batteries Not Included (1987)

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Ctrl Alt Critique - The Twilight Saga: Eclipse (2010)

Sharpen those fangs, perfect your most brooding of stares,and try not to break any treaties while you’re at it. That’s right, lovely Critters, Ctrl Alt Critique is emerging from the misty forests of Forks for a third time! Amber, Ad, and Bailey are sinking their teeth into the 2010 cultural phenomenon, The Twilight Saga: Eclipse, and as is tradition, they are not alone! This week, they’re joined…

Ctrl Alt Critique - The Twilight Saga: Eclipse (2010)

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Ctrl Alt Critique - Life (2017)

Scrub down your intravehicular medical garments, secure the lab, and prepare for quarantine, because Ctrl Alt Critique is capturing a new specimen this week! That’s right, darling Critters, Amber and Bailey are floating free from the airlock to tackle quite the organism; Daniel Espinosa’s 2017 sci-fi shocker, Life. Join the crew for a spot of zero-gravity chitchat. Amber shares her terror of the…

Ctrl Alt Critique - Life (2017)

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Ctrl Alt Critique - Valerian and the City of a Thousand Planets (2017)

Grab your Mül converter, plot a course for Alpha, and prepare to phase-shift with Amber and Bailey. That’s right, Critters, this week the Ctrl Alt Critique gang are firing up their Astroship and diving headfirst into Luc Besson’s 2017 visual buffet, Valerian and the City of a Thousand Planets!

Amber channels her inner Bubble, unpacking the pros and cons of Rihanna’s shape-shifting cabaret act,…

Valerian and the City of a Thousand Planets (2017)

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Ctrl Alt Critique - Arachnophobia (1990)

Lock up your wine cellars and check those slippers of yours, for Ctrl Alt Critique has scuttled back into sight! Amber, Bailey, and Ad are emerging from the barn rafters to unleash a venomous second series on their unsuspecting critters, and they’re starting matters off by spinning a fresh web around the 1990 Amblin classic, Arachnophobia. Join the trio for their signature chittering…

Ctrl Alt Critique - Arachnophobia (1990)

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‘Ella’s Quest: The Rage Room'

The universe sure does have a mischievous sense of humour when it comes to derailing my plans. One moment I’m innocently pottering about my local supermarket, contemplating that evening’s dinner options, the next, a ghost from my past appears, shattering my tranquillity. I’d just finished up at the coffee shop, dragging myself away from the delightful Tyson  before lust got the better of me.…

‘Ella’s Quest: The Rage Room'