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James Dalrymple

@jamesewand.bsky.social

1.6K followers 990 following 12K posts

Teaching/lecturing in France. Occasional academic. Cinema, books, music, vintage television, podcasts (usually while cooking for the family), teaching, life in France etc. Film reviews at: letterboxd.com/jamesewand/

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James Dalrymple @jamesewand.bsky.social · 6m

Funny that he, of all people, should feature twice in this list!

James Dalrymple @jamesewand.bsky.social · 27m

Some really interesting choices! I do like an anxiety-inducing movie 😉

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Reposted by James Dalrymple

Chancer On A Bike @darrenhayes.bsky.social · 51m

One for you @jamesewand.bsky.social

www.theguardian.com/film/2025/oc...

‘Verging on unwatchable’: Guardian writers on their most stressful movies

With the US release of Rose Byrne’s anxiety-inducing motherhood spiral If I Had Legs I’d Kick You, writers relive their most uncomfortable movie watches

www.theguardian.com

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James Dalrymple @jamesewand.bsky.social · 2h

Introducing this to my daughter. #NowWatching

The poster for Billy Wilder's Sunset Boulevard (1950)

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James Dalrymple @jamesewand.bsky.social · 3h

a few other things I wrote today (2/2):
letterboxd.com/jamesewand/f...

A ★★★★½ review of The Thing (1982)

The Thing is comfortably my favourite John Carpenter film, and it hasn’t lost its tension or claustrophobic power. It has been interesting to learn about the film’s troubled production, and how much w...

letterboxd.com

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James Dalrymple @jamesewand.bsky.social · 3h

a few other things I wrote today (1/2):
letterboxd.com/jamesewand/f...

A ★★½ review of Black Rain (1989)

1989 was the year of the Foreign Ownership Disclosure Act, which was passed amid growing US paranoia about emerging Asian economies, and Japan in particular. The Reagan-era pearl-clutching about suppo...

letterboxd.com

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James Dalrymple @jamesewand.bsky.social · 3h

😆

James Dalrymple @jamesewand.bsky.social · 5h

"He's 25" etc.

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James Dalrymple @jamesewand.bsky.social · 5h

I can imagine. The ending of The Passenger is also wildly offbeat. Antonioni took some big risks

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blogmywiki @blogmywiki.bsky.social · 6h

Any font nerds care to name the sans serif fonts at work here in this beautiful cover and title page? @fontsinuse.com

Cover of a 1966 Penguin edition of Funeral in Berlin by Len Deighton. Heavily screened cropped photo of Michael Caine. Red diagonal stripes.

Inside cover drawings of a gun an ammunition

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Reposted by James Dalrymple

Richard Luck @rmgluck2017.bsky.social · 6h

A FREE Substack post - my Richard Harris obituary.

In Memoriam - Richard Harris

Celebrating an actor who lived life to the very last drop.

richardluck.substack.com

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Reposted by James Dalrymple

JacquiWine @jacquiwine.bsky.social · 11h

From the archive, my thoughts on FLÂNEUSE by Lauren Elkin.

A captivating combination of memoir, social history and cultural studies on notable flâneuses - including sections on Jean Rhys, George Sand and Agnes Varda. I adored this one! #BookSky 💙📚

jacquiwine.wordpress.com/2022/06/14/f...

Flâneuse by Lauren Elkin

When we hear the word ‘flâneur’, we probably think of some well-to-do chap nonchalantly wandering the streets of 19th-century Paris, idling away his time in cafés and bars, casually watching the in…

jacquiwine.wordpress.com

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James Dalrymple @jamesewand.bsky.social · 5h

Anecdotally, I have seen a lot of critics and filmmakers slag it off, but maybe that's not the consensus view. Many others see it as dated, I think, for a variety of reasons. Still love it though 😃

James Dalrymple @jamesewand.bsky.social · 5h

So leftfield!

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James Dalrymple @jamesewand.bsky.social · 5h

Tiredness is to blame for quite a lot of underwhelming film experiences 😃

James Dalrymple @jamesewand.bsky.social · 5h

I haven't seen Red Desert yet. Blow Up seems very divisive: people either love it or hate it (I certainly don't think you're in a minority on that one). It's quite special to me, though

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James Dalrymple @jamesewand.bsky.social · 6h

*whispers* I love Blow Up and The Passenger. I haven't seen enough of the Italian language ones but I did like l'Aventurra and, especially, l'Eclisse

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James Dalrymple @jamesewand.bsky.social · 6h

I think I really liked Cocoon, and possibly the sequel too, but I haven't seen them in yonks

James Dalrymple @jamesewand.bsky.social · 6h

I like what you say about the films' immediacy. The films are rough around the edges but they urgently wanted to capture that moment. Consequently, they have extraordinary documentary power

James Dalrymple @jamesewand.bsky.social · 7h

me too, but I haven't seen it since. It seems like my childhood became some random Steve Guttenberg pilgrimage. Cocoon is another I'd like to rewatch. Perhaps I'll give the Police Academy films a miss though

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James Dalrymple @jamesewand.bsky.social · 7h

ha ha, I had to check that. He's not seen Short Circuit but I really think he ought to

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James Dalrymple @jamesewand.bsky.social · 7h

Thanks to exposure to Hollywood films from the 1980s my son now uses "scuzz-bucket" and "butt-face" as terms of endearment

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James Dalrymple @jamesewand.bsky.social · 9h

Agree with all this. Now I don't have to do my own thread! 😀

The mix of styles worked really well, and brings some welcome levity you don't get in Rome Open City (or Germany Year Zero). I was a bit too knackered enjoy the second half (I also watched in two sittings), but will definitely revisit

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Reposted by James Dalrymple

Paul C. Dobbs @steadytiger.bsky.social · 11h

Paisan (1946). Enjoyed this in a way you could never really ‘enjoy’ Rome Open City, great though it is. These 6 beautifully crafted short stories have it all: tragedy, laughs, romance, action, reflection. Classic storytelling, but shot with guerilla immediacy. You can smell the dust of the bombsites

Poster for Paisan, showing images of soldiers and civilians in war

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James Dalrymple @jamesewand.bsky.social · 10h

👍