Color Me Curious
tumblr dot com
almost home
Misplaced Lens Cap
Interview Vampire Daily
No title available
Xuebing Du
𓃗
izzy's playlists!
Aqua Utopia｜海の底で記憶を紡ぐ
Lint Roller? I Barely Know Her
Not today Justin
noise dept.
Product Placement
2025 on Tumblr: Trends That Defined the Year
untitled
One Nice Bug Per Day
ojovivo
No title available
No title available
seen from United States
seen from Russia
seen from United States
seen from Colombia
seen from United States
seen from Ecuador
seen from Colombia
seen from United States
seen from United Kingdom
seen from United States
seen from United States
seen from United States
seen from United States
seen from Russia
seen from Romania
seen from United States
seen from United States
seen from United States
seen from United States
seen from Brazil
@elliotpsmoke-blog
'The Reptile,' directed by John Gilling
Movie, 1966 A couple of twists on the Hammer formula, and while The Reptile can’t be regarded as a ‘classic,’ it’s good entertainment, visually interesting and trips along at a fairly decent pace. Cultural differences are very much presented with an outdated sensibility and the lack of budget sometimes shows, but there are some great atmospheric touches and ideas. Plot-wise, the ludicrous…
View On WordPress
My favourite reads of 2024
View On WordPress
'I Who Have Never Known Men,' by Jacqueline Harpman
Novel, 1995 Part post-apocalyptic, part philosophical exploration of a world, not only devoid of ‘normal’ men, but also boiled down to a group of about forty women, as viewed through the eyes of its youngest member. This is an unrelenting book, looking at gender and social roles, imagining habits, conventions and behaviours, once meaning and society have shifted so radically that so that…
View On WordPress
'Que la bête meure,' directed by Claude Chabrol
Movie, 1969 A good looking thriller mystery, in which a fairly despicable driver involved in a hit and run is chased down by the avenging father of the boy he knocked down. There a few curious plot points – like the absence of the main protagonist’s significant half at the beginning of the film (until someone else takes that place) – but the exploration of morality and the scenes and set pieces…
View On WordPress
'Goodbye' is the hardest thing to say...?
It depends, to a large extent, on context. We are, for example, at the end of another year. Look at the world situation, if you dare. Then look at your personal and family life. Maybe it’s just me and my generation (whatever that, they or it may be…), but as a fifty something year old man, I can’t think of many friends who aren’t looking at 2024 and saying ‘goodbye’ fondly, rather then giving it…
View On WordPress
'Harold and Maude,' directed by Hal Ashby
Movie, 1971 Quirky – almost painfully unwatchable dark film about a young man obsessed with death, trying to navigate the attentions of an overbearing mother. Which he does, after meeting a soul friend at a funeral, whose at least a couple of generations older than he is. Some really great moments and situations which keep the viewers on their toes. Granted, the demonisation of the military and…
View On WordPress
'The Keeper of Lost Things,' by Ruth Hogan
Novel, 2017 Contemporary tale of Laura, managing the estate and business of her former employer, with flashbacks and an interacting cast of characters. A great start and some deft construction, but many may feel a little turned off by the upbeat and positive, shiny inhabitants, and the twists and turns of the story. Fine for a good, trip along read, but the lack of a real kind of threat or grit…
View On WordPress
'Screamtime,' directed by Michael Armstrong and Stanley A. Long
Movie, 1983 Anthology of English horror stories with a linking narrative from New York. The American sections are pretty disposable, and while the stories aren’t entirely interesting or original, the tension in the Punch and Judy and particularly the ghost story of the new home are really well developed. Again, the third story is a little flat, and not helped with some pretty terrible acting,…
View On WordPress
Reading - my formative years
Three months ago, I listed the 100 books which had most shaped my writing practice. More recently, I had a closer look at those from the list I’d read and been inspired by as a kid. If, indeed, kids get ‘inspired;’ inspiration somehow seems a grubby thing to happen to someone who’s not yet hit their mid-teens. Talking of the mid teens, I had a funny relationship with lit crit at school. I can’t…
View On WordPress
'Paris vu Par,' directed various
Movie, 1965 Portmanteau of six films, all with different directors, all showing a series of lost, duplicitous, comic and sad characters. The plots of each segment are, almost by definition, not especially developed, or we’re handed character studies, perhaps, more than anything else. There is, however, a lot to admire in this film, from this wonderful of-its-time Parisian backdrop, to those…
View On WordPress
'Twins of Evil,' directed by John Hough
Movie, 1971 An absolute touchstone and proof, if anyone needed it, that by the time the 1970s came in, Hammer should have moved off and away from horror. Twins of Evil offers nothing new and feels like a kind of desperate attempt to rush something out, with the hook of nudity, eroticism, a little more black magic maybe come to the fore than in other productions, and there’s a hysterical level of…
View On WordPress
Contemporary reading - some suggestions from Rae Leaver Rahman
View On WordPress
'But Beautiful,' by Geoff Dyer
Fiction, 1991 Interesting and effective fictions using facts and factors from the lives of a number of jazz musicians, as well as some thoughts about the wider lives and the jazz form. This is a book with a quite wordy, quirky style, no doubt trying to approximate the musical form itself in the choice of some of the language and metaphors. One by one, these pieces of writing are excellent and…
View On WordPress
Writers' food - The Crisp Sandwich
Many years ago, I started marking the end of the working week with a crisp sandwich. Or, more accurately, a crisp roll. This may or may not have been an epicurean, passive aggressive response to Dress Down Friday, and all those ghastly Disney ties and Looney Tunes socks. I can’t remember. (Incidentally, long-term readers of this blog may remember that I’ve already covered how to dress like a…
View On WordPress
'Leave the World Behind,' directed by Sam Esmail
Movie, 2023 A film which fizzes and sparks with ideas and feels all too prescient in its main premise – a massive cyber-attack which cripples at least the eastern seaboard of the United States. The themes, backdrop and much of the plot are profound, although the foregrounded reactions and responses of the characters feels a bit clumsy and dissatisfying; the racial elements feel a bit overdone,…
View On WordPress
Long readers - Chris Johnson; 'In Search of Lost Time'
A few weeks ago, I asked an old friend of mine about his experience of reading James Joyce’s Ulysses. You can see that blog here. It seemed to be pretty well received, so again, a big thank you to Simon for spending a bit of time and getting his thoughts out there. This week, an even older friend on an even longer piece of literature. I’ve know Chris Johnson as long as he has me. We go WAY…
View On WordPress
'Sophie Scholl,' directed by Marc Rothemund
Movie, 2005 Account of The White Rose group, and their resistance against the Nazi regime, with the focus on Scholl, her brother and Mohr, Sophie’s interrogator. The personal focus, claustrophobic settings and basis in real life all give the film a depth not usually found in films set in the Second World War. The Nazis are played as pure villains for the main part, though rank and file members…
View On WordPress