Senior Film Writer Mark Farnsworth teaches Film in East London and is currently working on two screenplays, The Mysteries and Fair Access. He also writes the Oh/Cult section for Brokenshark.co.uk.
Being a kid in the early 80s was tough. Thatcher’s Britain was like an amusement park that had failed a safety test -- it looked fun, but was really a potential death trap. Heroin “screwed you...
We have lived long enough to witness the second coming of JC. No, not that one. The one with the shorter beard. James Cameron, that is. He can’t walk on water, but he’s bringing us the next best...
"Smoking or non-smoking?” Is throwaway line by Hudson in “Aliens,” and one that is redundant in today’s homogenized society. Back in 1986, the future still reeked of fag butts and cancer. The...
The 00s were a decade fraught with fear. They began with the millennium bug and ended with the growing debacle in Afghanistan. Like a downbeat Hollywood franchise played out over countless movies,...
Larry Gopnik is a serious man. Well he would be if he were given a chance. His wife Judith is cheating on him with a family friend, his son is in debt to the Hebrew school drug dealer, and his...
The Steven Soderbergh movie mafia rolls on with his quirky industrial thriller “The Informant!” Like the “Insider” with laughs, the film focuses on the cutthroat world of corporate...
Michael Caine is Harry Brown. The opening credits tell us so. No fanfare, no explosion, just simple fact: Michael Caine is Harry Brown. This is a statement of intent from the filmmakers. They know...
With the recent release of "Harry Brown" in the UK, Mark Farnsworth is taking a look back at the classic Michael Caine revenge film: "Get Carter." Launched like a British Rail heat-seeking missile,...
Marek Najbrt’s superior Second World War drama begins with a crisp montage of bicycle chains, spokes and gears. A pedal powered score wheels the audience into 1942 and the aftermath of the...
The subtle beauty of “Nowhere Boy” has to do with how it works on so many levels at once. Are you a Beatles or a Stones fan? Who was your favourite Beatle, John or Paul? Do you think John was a...