A Brief History

Since I was born in 1990, I naturally have a larger knowledge of movies in the past 20 years than in the past 50-60 years. Therefore it would make a great deal of sense to start in the present and work my way through to the past. Not quite 'Back to the future' but still, one should excuse the attempted pun.

The 90's and 00's has seen real highs and lows, from 'The Lord of the Rings' to 'Untraceable'. From 'The Fugitive' to 'Saw'. From, perhaps one of the greatest movies ever made, 'Shawshank Redemption' to, one of the worst films ever made, 'Penance'. From 'Toy Story' to...err... 'Toy Story 3'.
Arguably the 90's hasn't been a significant proportion of the film industries history, and hasn't emulated the greats made in the previous decades; the 'Godfather' trilogy, 'Ghostbusters' and 'Psycho', for example.

The past few years has seen ground-breaking movements towards an ever growing feel of realism in entertainment with the rise of HD, Blu-ray and 3D in large proportions of cinemas. Technology has always been a substantial influence on the success of movies, perhaps over-shadowing the real professionalism and  exertion Directors and Script-writers alike have constantly produced. This technology culture has made past films seem out-dated, as even big industry films such as 'Alien' and 'Aliens' appear as old as they are, despite being way ahead of their time when made in 1979 and 1986.

It seems modern technology has disorientated our perception and true understanding of the most integral elements of movies that make them truly great. I do not, however, wish to take technology out of (what I would name) the "Great Movie Equation", as it remains part of a films' spectacle and cannot be denied our attention.

Although I have not gone into great historical detail, I will now move on to the real film reviews and (for those of you who have read all the previous paragraphs and are now reading this) I will take requests for films to be reviewed, in as much depth as you so desire.

A Brief Introduction.

After the apparent increase in Blog users, I have decided that I will also become one. Whereas most people (Bloggers, as I shall call them for the sake of my Blog) tend to ramble on about their own personal life, I have decided that my Blog will be slightly different. I will review a mixture of film releases, whilst touching on my personal life that surrounds them; hence the title 'Flesh and Fantasy' (coincidently from a Bruce Springsteen classic).

Since before I can remember I have been a lover of films, coveting any kind of role in the production of film. Although some of the best -and worst- movies have been made since 1990, I still feel some-what jealous of people who were around for Cinema greats, such as Alfred Hitchcocks' 'Psycho' (not the unfortunately poor 1998 remake starring Vince Vaughn and William H. Macy). Ironically the problem with the remake was how closely Director Gus Van Sant tried to emulate the original... But that's not my place to criticise. I have missed out on the making and rise of some of the best movies the world has ever seen; the 'Star Wars' trilogy, Jim Abrahams, David and Jerry Zucker's 80's comedy set of 'The Naked Gun' trilogy and 'Airplane'. These just a few of the many movies still on the lips of true movie buffs. In spite of this, I have been lucky and cannot deny the limelight to some of the most impressive movies made since 1990.

I will discuss one of the most passionate part of my life in further detail, Cinema in the past few years. Greats to watch and duds to avoid.