cinema

‘She Found It At The Movies: Women Writers On Sex, Desire and Cinema’ (Book Review)

~ Nikki Baughan ~ Leave a comment

Like many of the contributors to She Found It at the Movies, the intoxicating new collection of essays from female and nonbinary writers about sex, desire and cinema, I can pinpoint the exact moment I fell head over heels for cinema. One rainy Sunday, aged 16, I revelled in an accidental double-bill of Tank Girl (1995) and Gone with the Wind (1939). I’d rented the former after being lured by the pulpy swagger of the VHS cover, and the latter simply popped up on BBC2. The uncompromising punk of Rachel Talalay’s comedy action film and the sweeping majesty of Victor Fleming’s 1939 romance epic were like nothing I had seen before. I was hooked.

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Not Quite Hollywood (2008)

~ Nikki Baughan

Strewth, mate, that’s a mighty fine doc you got there…

Although the documentary has become one of the most prolific genres in recent years, it is also one of the most potentially problematic. In this age of readily available technology anyone can pick up a camera and wax lyrical about any subject they choose, but it still takes some serious film-making talent to make said subject accessible and entertaining for a wider audience. With Not Quite Hollywood, Mark Hartley proves he is such a director – and then some.

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