Blog / 2014

Never say this blog is not ahead of the curve, me hearties. First it points you to Hans Fallada's astonishing 'Alone in Berlin', only for the book to be announced as an upcoming Emma Thompson film, and now, after years of nagging people about the wonderful, obscure writer Michael McDowell, I've discovered that all of his books are being rereleased, some in Kindle format only (like 'Blackwater' -…

To round off the end of the year, here's a fresh update on one of the first posts I ever made on his blog, which is now - incredibly - seven years old. Mornington Crescent. I blew them up in it, then moved them out of it, but it's still a great little building. Elderly detectives Arthur Bryant & John May left their offices above Mornington Crescent tube station (pictured below) as the unit was…

It's a safe bet that no-one will look back on 2014 and regard it as a classic year for Hollywood, which, as always, went where the money was - this time looking to the East, as films inserted locations and stars from China, Japan and India in an effort to increase revenue in those growing markets. After the bizarre cash explosion of 'Frozen' in SE Asia that caught even Disney by surprise ('Frozen'…

This is Chris Fowler. He's not me, by the way. But he bears my name and is probably a lot smarter than I'll ever be. This charismatic guy is a respected American sportscaster working for ESPN who happens to share my name. I have a common name. Taxi drivers make one of two jokes about it, either accusing me of being in Eastenders or playing football. That's usually what we Fowlers do, things like…

I've mentioned the possibility here in the past, but now the rumours have been confirmed; Scotland Yard's so-called 'Black Museum', which houses the exhibits from Britain's most notorious crimes, will go on display once it has found a sponsor and a venue. The renamed Crime Museum is to raise funds because of government cuts. Until now, only serving police officers — and special visitors by…

The news this Christmas that a biblical mistranslation is responsible for the idea of Christ being born in an inn stable comes as no real surprise to me. Because I know Christ was born beside a jacuzzi, and I have proof. If you're looking for really mind-boggling religious rubbish, head for the Catholic Mediterranean countries, where you'll find Christmas markets selling the most unbelievable…

In a strange way, popularity was the worst thing that could have happened to 'A Christmas Carol'. After performances by Charles Dickens himself, a long history of bowdlerised versions, parodies, satires and remakes eventually led to the Muppets, by which time the story's fierce sense of social injustice had vanished. We tend to forget now that there were other Dickens Christmas books, 'The Cricket…

There are times when not being American helps you take an outsider's viewpoint on a true story; I came to 'Foxcatcher' knowing nothing about the peculiar life of John 'Golden Eagle' du Pont (played here by an unrecognisable Steve Carrell), from one of the richest families in the US, but I imagine a lot of Americans are now familiar with the story. The facts are simple; Olympic gold wrestler Mark…

Tim Burton's directorial style has never been very sophisticated or subtle. That's fine; neither was Ken Russell's, but he combined sound and imagery brilliantly. Burton started out with the childlike colour explosions of 'Pee Wee's Big Adventure' and 'Edward Scissorhands', and only fell down when he reined in his sense of the absurd. 'Sweeney Todd' partly defeated him because he never came up…

It's been a strange year for film, with mainly weak blockbusters, no decent Hollywood comedies and no strong horror movies. A further retreat into sequels and reboots has set the pattern for the future, and only Universal is doing something fresh, ditching the 30 year-old idea of the tentpole release to concentrate on a smaller, wider range of films. But it was a good year to be a kid - apart from…