Sam S-P

Poster for Gigi (1958). A woman’s winking face over the stylised red film title against a white background.

At an opulent bar, a man with a suit, top hat and cane sits at a table with a bottle of champagne while a young woman in a green coat and yellow hat stands next to him. Leslie Caron and Louis Jourdan in Gigi (1958)

#BestPictureCatchup Film 19 - Gigi (1958). Vincente Minnelli won Best Director as well as this musical taking Best Picture, and while it looks lavish, this story of a Parisian playboy’s relationship with a much younger woman is far from romantic, coming off creepy at best. #Filmsky

Thinking about Rob Reiner quite a bit these days. Especially how he had incredible instincts for what not to show, how to imply things so you don't have to explain them, when to show violence and when to show the reaction instead.

Poster for Around the World in 80 Days (1956). Cartoon of two men being carried away by a hot air balloon with the film title written in the fabric, while a train, ships, a cart and an elephant move across the top. Tagline reads: “It’s a wonderful world, if you’ll only take the time to go around it!”

Three men and a woman in Victorian dress sit together on a train. Robert Newton, Shirley MacLaine, Cantinflas and David Niven in Around the World in 80 Days (1956)

#BestPictureCatchup Film 18 - Around the World in 80 Days (1956). There’s some undeniable cultural insensitivity here, but this epic adaptation of Jules Verne’s globe-hopping adventure is a feast for the eyes and packed full of famous cameos and film references. #Filmsky

I’ve spent years, decades, obsessing over the Bush Administration’s Iraq WMD lies, writing about them, debunking them.

I can think of no lie about Iraq WMDs told by Bush, Cheney, Rumsfeld et al that comes even close to the enormity and absurdity of this lie from Donald Trump.

Poster for Marty (1955). A cartoon of a large man making a call at a pay phone, an image of a man in a blue embracing a woman in pink and positive critical appraisals above the film’s title.

A man and a woman dressed for a night out sit together on a couch, she smiles and he nervously glances sideways at her. Ernest Borgnine and Betsy Blair in Marty (1955)

#BestPictureCatchup Film 17 - Marty (1955). Who could fail to love Ernest Borgnine in this funny, honest and tender ode to lonely people everywhere? The Academy should consider more lowkey slice-of-life stories for their top awards. #Filmsky

Cillian Murphy's a legend. He won an Oscar for a monster hit Christopher Nolan movie and used that clout to make downer dramas about Magdalane laundries and reform schools.

Poster for The Greatest Show on Earth (1952). Against a red background there are headshots of the film’s stars to the left and below is an image of circus performances and animals putting on a show.

Two high wire acrobats in sparkly costumes laugh together as their boss, a man in a leather jacket and fedora leans in from his seat by a circus tent. Cornel Wilde, Betty Hutton and Charlton Heston in The Greatest Show on Earth (1952)

#BestPictureCatchup Film 16 - The Greatest Show on Earth (1952). DeMille’s exploration of the lives of circus performers is impressively mounted and colourful, but is far too long and the mixing of documentary conventions with soapy melodrama doesn’t really work. #Filmsky

A man in a billowing white shirt confronts another man in a captain’s uniform ok the deck of a ship as the crew stand around them. Clark Gable and Charles Laughton in Mutiny in the Bounty (1935)

A man and a woman sit in an air raid shelter and look nervous as the noises above them, while she knits and he smokes a pipe. Greer Garson and Walter Pidgeon in Mrs. Miniver (1942)

Two women who look upset sit on the floor with their backs against a bed and talk to each other. Renate Reinsve and Inga Ibsdotter Lilleaas in Sentimental Value (2025)

Three servicemen - a sailor, an airman and a soldier sit together in the cargo of a military plane. Harold Russell, Dana Andrews and Fredric March in The Best Years of Our Lives (1946)

Favourite first time watches February 2026 (Mutiny on the Bounty, Mrs. Miniver, Sentimental Value, The Best Years of Our Lives).

Robert De Niro, "This is about our country imploding, it's not something from outside, it's something inside"

"If we allow Trump to go any further he'll just take more and more and more"

"People have to push back peacefully in the streets everywhere, from now till mid-terms"

Gentle reminder that you don't have to fully boycott Amazon, just stop making it your default. Need socks? Lots of places sell socks. Need printer paper? Need rye flour? Many other options.

"This startup only sells through Amazon!"

Okay, buy that but don't buy the sneakers and coffee beans.

The Great Silence (1968) Directed by Sergio Corbucci stars Jean-Louis Trintignant, Klaus Kinski and Vonetta McGee.

lol labour and reform both peddling the same bollocks

Trainspotting (1996) 30th Anniversary Review Even now though, you find yourself drawn back to the seismic impact of this tale of the incredible highs and extreme lows of heroin addicts in Scotland’s capital city.

Trainspotting is 30 years old this year. Check out Sam's retrospective review of this modern day classic, now up on the substack.
#filmsky #moviesky #trainspotting #dannyboyle #ewanmcgreggor #secondcut

Regret to announce that we’ve reached Wrong Coat season. Every coat you wear from now til mid April will be The Wrong Coat for the weather

Port Royal Under Attack, or Pirate Movies and Why They Keep Disappearing YouTube video by Second Cut

A new episode is now out, talking all things pirate movies. Now up on our YouTube channel, and wherever you get your podcasts.
#filmsky #moviesky #podcast #goreverbinski #piratesofthecarribean #pirates

Trainspotting (1996) 30th Anniversary Review Independent film criticism, news, theory, and more.

Danny Boyle’s Trainspotting turns 30 this week. My anniversary review - secondcutpod.substack.com/p/trainspott...

Rise of Skywalker was this basic idea but in movie form, and it tanked Star Wars as a theatrical franchise for almost a decade. And on TV, outside of Andor, even the better shows were catering to a rapidly shrinking audience of the hardcore.

This project sounds like the bastard child that Robert Mapplethorpe and Hayao Miyazaki should have had.

Poster for An American in Paris (1951). Painted image of a man lifting a woman in an elaborate dance against a stylised Parisian background.

A man in a red blazer, hat and cane and a woman in a colourful dress and hat dance together. Gene Kelly and Leslie Caron in An American in Paris (1951)

#BestPictureCatchup Film 15 - An American in Paris (1951). Old-fashioned but charming, director Vincente Minnelli and stars Gene Kelly and Leslie Caron maximise the romance of song, dance and magical realism. #Filmsky

Netflix Declines to Raise Offer for Warner Bros. - About Netflix

Netflix won't counter Ellison's offer.

Ladies and gentleman, the full right wing power grab is here and will now be beamed into every home on CBS, CNN, HBO, movies from Warner and Paramount.

about.netflix.com/en/news/netf...

I like that the picture suggests that he’s just written this graceless codswallop on the notes section of his phone

The Greens have 5 MPs now, all of whom fought and won their seat.

Reform may have 8 MPs, but 4 of those are just recent defections from the Tories.
Reform aren't the story any more. The media would do well to remember that.

a man in a red shirt has the words thaaaats not natural on his face Alt: A man in a red shirt looks freaked out and says “Thaaaats not natural”. Joe Keery in Cold Storage (2026)

I didn’t see Scream today because fuck those guys. I saw Cold Storage instead and had a great time.

It's been reported that Red Dwarf creator Rob Grant has died.

Well, smeg. :(

www.ganymede.tv/2026/02/rob-...

Poster for All the King’s Men (1949). Painted image of a closeup and wide shot of a politician making a speech, with smaller images of his colleagues, opponents and voters. Laurel leaves enclose the tagline “The Pulitzer Prize winning novel becomes a vital, very great motion picture”.

A politician in a hat and coat addresses his team in a crowded campaign office. Broderick Crawford, John Ireland and Mercedes McCambridge in All the King’s Men (1949).

#BestPictureCatchup Film 14 - All the King’s Men (1949). It’s strange that they didn’t just make this a straight Huey Long biopic, but even with the names changed this is a punchy story of dirty, populist American politics with great work from Broderick Crawford and Mercedes McCambridge. #Filmsky

screenshot from A Simple Plan of the Mitchells' abandoned family home and farm filling right side of frame, with naked dark trees on left side of frame. it's snowing - everything is covered in snow

watercolor painting of the mill on Wyeth's property, bookended by barren trees - everything has a sepia tint to it except for the snow in the foreground of the painting. the tracks through the snow also have a brown/sepia tint

closeup on the Mitchells' empty house, covered in snow, with glassless windows. on the right hand side, the wind blows a flimsy curtain outside of the house

painting of an attic window with wind blowing tattered, flimsy, lacy, near-translucent tea colored curtains into the room

A Simple Plan (1998) & Andrew Wyeth's Grist Mill, watercolor on paper, 1968 + Wind from the Sea, tempera on hardboard, 1947

Embracing physical media is a rejection of hyper modern digitalization.

In short owning physical media is anti authoritarian and anti hyper modernity.

Buy the dvds
Buy the books
Own media
Build your own libraries
Destroy corporate ownership of media
Retain ownership and control of knowledge

John Davidson Gives First Interview and Explains Tourette’s Tics After Shouting N-Word and Other Slurs at BAFTAs: ‘I Felt a Wave of Shame’ (EXCLUSIVE) John Davidson's explains Tourette's tics and the BAFTA N-word incident in his first exclusive interview with Variety.

Fantastic interview. Everyone should read it: