David Cairns @dcairns.bsky.social · 09/10/2026J. Lee Thompson X 2 dcairns.wordpress.com/2026/10/09/t...dcairns.wordpress.comThompson, TwinnedHad a J. Lee Thompson double feature a few weeks back, but was too busy to write it up. How much have I retained? First up was one of the Brit director’s more respectable outings, YIELD TO TH… 042
David Cairns @dcairns.bsky.social · 21/09/2026A new thing by me. dcairns.wordpress.com/2026/09/20/h...dcairns.wordpress.comHitting the StreetHere. Another of the things I worked on this summer is available: Fritz Lang’s SCARLET STREET. A fun video essay to do. Masters of Cinema are making much of the fact that I got Alexander Payn… 094
David Cairns @dcairns.bsky.social · 16/09/2026Felt oddly nice to be watching my first of 97 Yoji Yamada films on his 97th birthday! dcairns.wordpress.com/2026/09/16/t...dcairns.wordpress.comTankingWas discussing Yoji Yamada with a friend and realised I had seen none of his 97 films. Well, that seemed too many films not to have seen, so I immediately (almost) ran the intriguingly-titled DONKE… 061
David Cairns @dcairns.bsky.social · 05/09/2026Big piece on Edward Dmytryk at Columbia. dcairns.wordpress.com/2026/09/05/n...dcairns.wordpress.comNeat trick, DmytrykThis is my essay on Dmytryk for Locarno Film Festival’s Lady with the Torch retrospective on Columbia Pictures under Harry Coen two years back. I *think* it’s the final draft. Born 1908… 2103
David Cairns @dcairns.bsky.social · 30/08/2026Enjoyed writing about Bernard "Mad" Vorhaus for this big red book: dcairns.wordpress.com/2026/08/30/t...dcairns.wordpress.comThe Big Red BookMy copy of Red and Black: Hollywood Left and the Blacklist, edited by Ehsan Khoshbakht, just arrived! I’m in here, blabbering on about Bernard “Mad” Vorhaus, the New York-born fil… 011
David Cairns @dcairns.bsky.social · 26/08/2026gofund.me/9d13bae3cgofund.meDonate to Help Us Give Our Children a Chance at a Peaceful Childhood, organized by Emily MillerMy name is Naser Musllam, and I'm 32 years old. I studied Busi… Emily Miller needs your support for Help Us Give Our Children a Chance at a Peaceful Childhood 000
David Cairns @dcairns.bsky.social · 24/08/2026DOUGLAS GORDON BY DOUGLAS GORDON, not so much a documentary, more an open-plan labyrinth. dcairns.wordpress.com/2026/08/24/g... 041
David Cairns @dcairns.bsky.social · 20/08/2026One of the best films I saw at Edinburgh International Film Festival was THE EDUCATION OF JANE CUMMING, based on a story that may be somewhat familiar to classic movie fans... dcairns.wordpress.com/2026/08/20/a...dcairns.wordpress.comAn EducationTHE EDUCATION OF JANE CUMMING, screened at this year’s Edinburgh International Film Festival, is based on the same story that inspired Lillian Hellman’s play The Children’s Hour a… 120
David Cairns @dcairns.bsky.social · 19/08/2026A good biographical-critical look at comics titan Harvey Kurtzman just played at Edinburgh. dcairns.wordpress.com/2026/08/19/m...dcairns.wordpress.comMad WorldTHE MAD WORLD OF HARVEY KURTZMAN, screened at Edinburgh International Film Festival, celebrates the creator of Mad Magazine and shows there was much more to the man than just one paradigm-changing … 020
David Cairns @dcairns.bsky.social · 18/08/2026David Melville WIngrove provides another swooning guest post on classic French cinema, this time tackling Jacques Becker's delirious FALBALAS: dcairns.wordpress.com/2026/08/18/p...dcairns.wordpress.comPAPA KNOWS BEST: “F is for Falbalas”PAPA KNOWS BEST An A-Z of French Cinema Before the New Wave F is for ‘Falbalas’ “Why do people swim upstream and not just go with the flow?” “Because they want to know where they are going.” ~ Raym… 121
David Cairns @dcairns.bsky.social · 14/08/2026My first two films at Edinburgh Film Fest both featured John Hannah and dildos used as throwing weapons. Coincidence? Yeah, I'm going with coincidence. dcairns.wordpress.com/2026/08/14/h... 081
David Cairns @dcairns.bsky.social · 12/08/2026Makevejev and (Diary of a) Switchboard Operator have fallen of the radar a fair bit, and Rademaker and I am Curious only enjoyed brief acclaim. 000
David Cairns @dcairns.bsky.social · 11/08/2026Delon! Bronson! Japrisot! dcairns.wordpress.com/2026/08/11/l...dcairns.wordpress.comLong ConAnything written by French twistmeister Sebastien Japrisot is worth reading or watching. ADIEU L’AMI (1968) is one of his few original scripts. It seems to be the only film directed by Jean H… 040
David Cairns @dcairns.bsky.social · 09/08/2026#CheesyMovies EAST OF EDAM; REVENGE OF THE CHEDDAR; WHEN DINOSAURS ROULADE EARTH; BRIE GODFATHERS; MUNSTER FROM THE OCEAN FLOOR; ROQUE IV 030
David Cairns @dcairns.bsky.social · 09/08/2026I didn't know a week ago that Scottish comedian Rikki Fulton made two silent movies in the fifties. I know now. Am I happier for it? dcairns.wordpress.com/2026/08/09/t...dcairns.wordpress.comThe Sunday Intertitle: Scots WhaaaI picked up for a pound a weird DVD combining some olde Scottish musical shorts and a couple of short silent comedies starring and made by Rikki Fulton in the 50s. I figured I’d get intertitl… 030
David Cairns @dcairns.bsky.social · 08/08/2026Wolf Mankiewitz's satire on the British film industry is pretty spicy. dcairns.wordpress.com/2026/08/08/w... 031
David Cairns @dcairns.bsky.social · 06/08/2026I guess the "I love you" scene wouldn't have the same impact though if he was immediately rescued. But the series pays a price for that. I do think that each movie you buy a ticket for should ideally offer a complete story, even if it's part of a longer one. 030
David Cairns @dcairns.bsky.social · 06/08/2026I would argue that Han's freezing is the main thing that makes the ending feel inconclusive, and that Han's unfreezing starts JEDI off on a sidequest that has nothing to do with the main story. 131
David Cairns @dcairns.bsky.social · 06/08/2026Two nautical comedies starring Awful British Comedians: dcairns.wordpress.com/2026/08/06/b...dcairns.wordpress.comBritannia Waives the RulesMore Awful British Comedians, because there are ALWAYS more. I picked up the Network DVD of FREEDOM OF THE SEAS because it was pretty cheap and pretty mysterious. I hadn’t heard of anybody in… 021
David Cairns @dcairns.bsky.social · 05/08/2026Is HEAT hot? It has its points. dcairns.wordpress.com/2026/08/05/m...dcairns.wordpress.comMann on FireSo, finally watched HEAT. I tend to have issues with Michael Mann films but, despite reservations about this one, I did not experience my usual issue of finding that his bold stylistic choices are … 040
David Cairns @dcairns.bsky.social · 04/08/2026Watching HEAT and I'm sorry but I don't believe that a cop would say "Let's violate his ass right now," without clarifying his intent. 150
David Cairns @dcairns.bsky.social · 01/08/2026There's typically no "For" in the English title, though that would be the correct translation. 010
David Cairns @dcairns.bsky.social · 01/08/2026I'm pretty bad at watching Tarkovsky but this one was somewhere between a gruelling arse marathon and a real transfiguring experience. dcairns.wordpress.com/2026/08/01/l...dcairns.wordpress.comLong longingI’ve been very slow at getting into Tarkovsky. I have several unwatched discs that’ve been unwatched for years. But then I have too many discs. I have liked what I’ve seen but sel… 041
David Cairns @dcairns.bsky.social · 31/07/2026Subtitling is an art, not a science. dcairns.wordpress.com/2026/07/31/a...dcairns.wordpress.comAztec CameraRobert Siodmak’s DER SCHATZ DES AZTEKEN (THE TREASURE OF THE AZTECS, 1965) is my first cinematic taste of Karl May, believe it or not. It’s far more recognizable as a Artur Brauner prod… 182
David Cairns @dcairns.bsky.social · 27/07/2026A Richard Matheson TV thriller that isn't Duel but IS rather good. dcairns.wordpress.com/2026/07/27/d... 062
David Cairns @dcairns.bsky.social · 26/07/2026The makers of the 1911 L'ODDYSSEA get some cyclops things right that Nolan, with a 116 year advantage, still struggles with. dcairns.wordpress.com/2026/07/26/t...dcairns.wordpress.comThe Sunday Intertitle: Polyphemus PerversityThis 1911 L’ODYSSEA is pretty good from a spectacle viewpoint. It’s from that naive period of cinema where the intertitles tell you want you’re ABOUT to see, relieving the images … 020
David Cairns @dcairns.bsky.social · 24/07/2026That trailer was just the most unappealing thing, wasn't it? I saw the movie in spite of it, not because of it. 010
David Cairns @dcairns.bsky.social · 23/07/2026If you only read one review of THE ODYSSEY, here is one review of THE ODYSSEY. dcairns.wordpress.com/2026/07/23/t... 173
David Cairns @dcairns.bsky.social · 22/07/2026A piece I did about Brit director Anthony Kimmins: dcairns.wordpress.com/2026/07/22/k...dcairns.wordpress.comKimmins and GoingsThis is another piece written for the Locarno Film Festival’s “Great Expectations” retrospective on postwar British cinema. Anthony Kimmins began in the early 1930s – unusually – … 030
David Cairns @dcairns.bsky.social · 17/07/2026This is a piece I wrote for the Locarno Film Festival on the semi-admirable, semi-deplorable Val Guest. dcairns.wordpress.com/2026/07/17/f...dcairns.wordpress.comFoul PestThe following was written for Locarno Film Festival’s retrospective and book Great Expectations: British Postwar Cinema 1945-1960, edited by Ehsan Khoshbakht. It wasn’t called Foul Pest… 020
David Cairns @dcairns.bsky.social · 17/07/2026I used to make 20-minute video essays, like a person. But now the two most recent are about 45 mins and another, yet to be announced, is an hour forty-five. But I feel it would take longer to make them shorter. 030
David Cairns @dcairns.bsky.social · 11/07/2026Double Indemnity... doubled! dcairns.wordpress.com/2026/07/11/d...dcairns.wordpress.comDouble Double IndemnityI own a book entitled The Five Great Novels of James M Cain, anthologising The Postman Always Rings Twice, The Butterfly, Serenade, Mildred Pierce, and Double Indemnity. I’d only read Serenad… 1233
David Cairns @dcairns.bsky.social · 10/07/2026Richard Dix, Fay Wray, and a bunch of stand-ins are the stars of IT HAPPENED IN HOLLYWOOD. dcairns.wordpress.com/2026/07/09/s...dcairns.wordpress.comSticks Nix Dick Dix PixI like Richard Dix in movies, especially his WHISTLER B pictures, and GHOST SHIP, where he fits in perfectly with Val Lewton’s fondness for understated villainy. Unfortunately some the RKO st… 030
David Cairns @dcairns.bsky.social · 05/07/2026Marcello Matroianni has been at it for a full week. dcairns.wordpress.com/2026/07/05/l...dcairns.wordpress.comLa Dolce Vita, Day 7, Night 7Another short day, another long night. We see Marcello trying to do some actual writing in an open-air cafe, then getting attracted by an actual person’s story. He’s a little flirtatiou… 031
David Cairns @dcairns.bsky.social · 04/07/2026My follow-up piece to Fiona's piece on BACKROOMS. dcairns.wordpress.com/2026/07/03/t... 062
David Cairns @dcairns.bsky.social · 02/07/2026We loved BACKROOMS and @monsterfromid66.bsky.social was moved to write about it: dcairns.wordpress.com/2026/07/02/w... 051
David Cairns @dcairns.bsky.social · 02/07/2026Daniel Kremer's jumbo video essay gives us all something to aim for. dcairns.wordpress.com/2026/07/01/z... 031
David Cairns @dcairns.bsky.social · 30/06/2026A Bunuel movie bristling with Christs. dcairns.wordpress.com/2026/06/30/a...dcairns.wordpress.comA Bunch of ChristsCELA S’APPELLE L’AURORE is a pretty good movie but as a Bunuel movie it isn’t very Bunuelian. A donkey gets beaten, on the one hand, which is moderately Bunuelian, but there are a… 020
David Cairns @dcairns.bsky.social · 27/06/2026L'Herbier Goes Bananas. dcairns.wordpress.com/2026/06/27/l... 130
David Cairns @dcairns.bsky.social · 24/06/2026LA DOLCE VITA creates cinematic beauty sometimes with quite simple means. dcairns.wordpress.com/2026/06/24/l...dcairns.wordpress.comLa Dolce Vita: Day Four, Night FourDay this time is very brief, a couple of shots long. A spectacularly elegant composition in wide, showing a priest doing last rites on the expired invalid, then a couple of reaction shots of Marcel… 060
David Cairns @dcairns.bsky.social · 24/06/2026Old King Cole issued a decree commanding his subjects to eat shredded cabbage with mayonnaise, and that's why we call it coleslaw. 020
David Cairns @dcairns.bsky.social · 23/06/2026For some reason I didn't think THE POSTMAN ALWAYS RINGS TWICE was going to be amazing, but it is amazing. dcairns.wordpress.com/2026/06/23/t...dcairns.wordpress.comThe Dropped LipstickI find Tay Garnett intermittently very interesting, and his memoir makes me like him as a person, so it’s odd that I’d NEVER watched his best-known film, THE POSTMAN ALWAYS RINGS TWICE.… 070
David Cairns @dcairns.bsky.social · 22/06/2026Quentin Crisp was brilliant on this, saying straight people were unable to think of gay sex without imagining doing it, which freaked them out. He compared it to the statement "I'm glad I don't like peas because if I did, I would have to eat them, and I can't stand them!" 021
David Cairns @dcairns.bsky.social · 22/06/2026I'm not sure they didn't believe people were gay. I think the whole "lifestyle choice" thing was a bad-faith argument because they knew they were on shaky ground and people might sympathise with gay people since after all it's obviously NOT a choice. 120
