NOTEBOOK #3
In these difficult times, and with Deptford Cinema’s doors closed for the time being, the spirit of cinema lives on through the passion of our volunteers and audiences.
Deptford Cinema’s volunteers will be sharing their favourite movies, stills, scores, locations and cinematic discoveries here - as an ongoing film notebook. New recommendations will be rolled out every now and then for your interest and enjoyment.
Recommended by Neal
VIEW
Filmwise Invisibles
Every film fan out there has their favourite films and would know them from just one single still image. There is a website that puts this knowledge to the test in a unique way. Filmwise put together monthly contests and weekly quizzes with screenshots from all sorts of films… but the characters have been very cleverly removed.
They have now created over a thousand rounds (!) with stills that range from really easy for film novices, to some so difficult they will even have film buffs scratching their heads. (The answers are available too if you get really stumped - but no cheating!)
Visit the Filmwise Invisibles website here.
Here is an example, can you guess the film? (A clue for you, this was screened at Deptford Cinema in 2019)
LISTEN
Lost Themes III: Alive After Death
by John Carpenter
Unashamedly, I would say John Carpenter is my favourite American filmmaker. In my youth, having taped (the 80s and 90s version of “streamed”) his masterpiece The Thing and rewatched it countless times, I was hooked on his brand of genre films covering horror, science fiction, and action adventure.
He has influenced so many filmmakers working today, and it is noticeable that all his films are titled with the prefix ‘John Carpenter’s’ because alongside his role as director, he also has had a hand in virtually all aspects of his films; the script, editing, casting and, most significantly, the music. John Carpenter is also a musician and when he had limited funds for his breakthrough hits Assault on Precinct 13 and Halloween, he scored the movies himself. They are masterpieces of electronic synth and the style became a staple of nearly all his films. Like fine wine his reputation, garnered over his 35-year career, has got better with age, and over the past decade he has produced his own albums of ‘Lost Themes’ written and performed by himself and his band comprised of his son and godson. The music sounds like scores to unproduced films from his heyday, conjuring up visions of places and imagery from the sort of spooky and vivid worlds he conjured up on the screen.
His third album in the series, Lost Themes III, has just been released and is a massive comfort blanket listen for fans like me, and a peak inside the audio world of this great artist.
The album is available to listen to on Spotify here or wherever else you get your music.
WATCH
In Search of Darkness Parts I & II
Feature documentaries have grown in popularity in recent years, as has a taste for nostalgia, looking back to reminisce on films of the past and discovering which ways they influence us today.
I met the producer of one such documentary at a screening I organised, and it is an absolute gem. In Search of Darkness is an epic, year-by-year exhaustive trip through 1980s horror films. Focusing on everything from the filmmakers (yes, John Carpenter is interviewed!) to the stars, and the memorable, practical special effects from that era, it brought back a lot of memories for this VHS child to see how they made some of the greatest horror films ever. It’s also fascinating to see the reaction to these films at the time, like the UK government’s ‘video nasty’ campaign, and the legacy and influence of this great period of creativity in Hollywood. Have a pen and paper handy to note down some of the films you will want to track down and watch afterwards!
Like all horror films from that time there is the inevitable sequel, but unlike a lot of cheap imitations, this is arguably bigger and better than the first.
Part I is available to stream on Shudder with Part II coming soon.
In Search of Darkness (2019) trailer
READ
Empire Magazine March 2021 edition ‘The Greatest Cinema Moments Ever’ article
We all miss going to the cinema (especially the much missed Deptford Cinema). For me, there is nothing like sitting in one of those many seats in that dark room, seeing the flicker of light projected onto the screen, having stories told to you through moving images and sounds which elicits so many different emotions and transports you to another place for an amount of time. There is something unique about the power of cinema that can provoke a combined reaction – be it physical, emotional or thoughtful – amongst the two, ten or hundreds of people in that same darkened room at the exact moment in time, that stays with you.
A big gateway to my film obsession has been Empire magazine which has been published here in the UK since 1989. I bought my first copy in 1995 (Hugh Grant was on the cover!) and ever since it has directed me to so many different films and informed and educated me on popular filmmaking. It helped me to form my own tastes and opinions and introduced me to the huge film community that exists of people that shared my interests.
The Empire team have reacted so well to events of the past year in their focus and this peaked with a feature in the March issue, written in partnership with director Edgar Wright (Shaun of the Dead). In it the greatest in film, both behind and in front of the camera, tell of their own memorable experiences of cinema going. It not only made me reminisce about my own, it also had me imagining what it was like to watch some of my favourite films that were released before my time, and also what watching films will be like in the future.
The issue can be bought here.
VISIT
Free Film Festivals
Community cinema has had to adapt so much in the past year. Whilst the original home is no more, Deptford Cinema will return (hurrah!) to some new place some time in the future. Another example of keeping the community film spirit alive are the Free Film Festivals. What began as a few days of free screenings for the public in Peckham & Nunhead in 2010, Free Film Festivals has branched out into 9 further areas, from across South London and all the way to Glasgow! They happen each year spread out across the spring and summer months, and after 2020 when some successfully migrated online, the organisers are now planning to return to public screenings, bringing people together to enjoy free films and also celebrate their neighbourhoods and local areas.
All the festivals are totally run by volunteers and are always looking for more people to help them organise and programme their events. There is so much to get involved and have fun with – you could even volunteer yourself.
Check out the Free Film Festivals website here for the 2021 programme. Each festival can be followed and contacted on their respective social media accounts.
“I know you gentlemen have been through a lot, but when you find the time, I’d rather not spend the rest of this winter TIED TO THIS F***ING COUCH!”