Cian McGrath

6 days ago | framerated.co.uk | Cian McGrath

Psychological horror hit the jackpot in 1960, with two of the most well-known entries in the genre, Psycho and Peeping Tom, releasing within months of each other. But while Hitchcock’s most well-known film was a soaring box office success, amassing $50M despite sporting a budget of less than $1M, Michael Powell’s Peeping Tom didn’t even break even.

6 days ago | medium.com | Cian McGrath

Retrospective Film Review | HorrorA young man murders women, using a movie camera to film their dying expressions of terror. Psychological horror hit the jackpot in 1960, with two of the most well-known entries in the genre, Psycho and Peeping Tom, releasing within months of each other. But while Hitchcock’s most well-known film was a soaring box office success, amassing $50M despite sporting a budget of less than $1M, Michael Powell’s Peeping Tom didn’t even break even.

1 week ago | framerated.co.uk | Cian McGrath

There’s nothing glamorous about the life of a rock n’ roll superstar in Gus Van Sant’s Last Days. Though protagonist Blake (Michael Pitt) doesn’t share the same name as the Nirvana lead singer, he’s a transparent stand-in for Kurt Cobain. Instead of taking a very general approach to Cobain’s life, Last Days is far more intimate and personal —on the surface, at least —than a typical biopic.

1 week ago | medium.com | Cian McGrath

Retrospective Film ReviewA Seattle musician’s life and career are reminiscent of those of Kurt Cobain. There’s nothing glamorous about the life of a rock n’ roll superstar in Gus Van Sant’s Last Days. Though protagonist Blake (Michael Pitt) doesn’t share the same name as the Nirvana lead singer, he’s a transparent stand-in for Kurt Cobain. Instead of taking a very general approach to Cobain’s life, Last Days is far more intimate and personal — on the surface, at least — than a typical biopic.

1 week ago | framerated.co.uk | Cian McGrath

Exactly 10 years after Ridley Scott and Russell Crowe teamed up to make Gladiator (2000), the epic Ancient Roman film whose cultural legacy would be considered a career-high for almost anyone not named Ridley Scott, the duo returned for a reinterpretation of the legend of Robin Hood. That’s not to say Crowe didn’t star in any of the director’s films since then, but Robin Hood and Gladiator share a number of similarities that are made remarkable by how different both stories appear in theory.