Jonathan Wakeham

Thanks so much for sharing your essay: such helpful context for the film and illumination of the story. It's lovely to know that it was such a box office success as well.

I loved researching & writing about this quietly radical charmer for BFI DVD… Deleted now ofc, so here it is for anyone who wants it:

www.somayer.net/2025/08/07/a...

Congratulations! That's brilliant news x

Four schoolgirls in their uniform raincoats gather on a staircase, autographing one girl's broken arm plaster cast, in PEPPERMINT SODA (Diane Kurys, 1977)

Diane Kurys' PEPPERMINT SODA (1977) is enchanting: a raw, funny, painfully honest — and honestly painful — look back at her adolescence. Minute in its focus but epic in its themes — sex, class, colonialism, anti-Semitism — it's a giddy, glorious masterpiece, beautifully shot by Philippe Rousselot.

Samira Wiley in Intimate Apparel: a young Black woman sits at a sewing machine in 1905, her face brightly lit, the stage in rich purple shadow.

The quality of attention in a great stage production can be breathtaking. I've rarely felt such an intensity of empathy from an audience as I did in Intimate Apparel by Lynn Nottage at the Donmar, directed by Lynette Linton, where Samira Wiley holds our hearts in her hands for two hours. Wonderful.

YouTube video by The Documentary Collection Living the Light - Robby Müller |🎥Cinema | Full Documentary

If you love Robby Müller’s work (and haven’t already seen it) you might enjoy this doc about his life and films: youtube.com/watch?v=wXgB...

Rachel Zegler, in a shimmering white gown and diamonds, takes her bow as Evita with the rest of the cast, including Diego Andres Rodriguez as Che and James Olivas as Perón.

Rachel Zegler is a sensational Evita: charismatic, manipulative, vulnerable, with a glorious voice. Jamie Lloyd's production loses historical detail but nails the performative nature of power. And I think it's the peak of Rice and Lloyd Webber: a tightrope between romantic music and sardonic wit.

Robby Müller Archive A website that keeps and manages the personal picture archive of cinematographer Robby Müller. Features photographs, publications, as well as biographical information.

I also just discovered the glorious Robby Müller Archive, which is packed with unforgettable images from his life and films: www.robbymullerarchive.com

A young Japanese couple Jun (Masatoshi Nagase) and Mitsuko (Youki Kudoh) carry their huge pink suitcase through downtown Memphis at night in MYSTERY TRAIN (1989)

Loved Jim Jarmusch's MYSTERY TRAIN (1989) a triptych of stories set on one night in a rundown Memphis hotel. Suffused with grief, melancholy and loneliness, haunted (literally) by Elvis's ghost, it's nonetheless a warm, funny, flirtatious movie, every frame gorgeously shot by the great Robby Müller.

Margot Kidder's breathtaking rooftop apartment in SUPERMAN (1978). She stands looking out over Metropolis at night, wearing a diaphanous white gown, waiting for Superman to visit.

Richard Donner's SUPERMAN (1978) is a blissful blend of screwball and melodrama, beautifully played by Reeve, Kidder and Hackman to John Williams' magnificent score. They promised we'd believe a man could fly, but in 2025 what's hardest to swallow is that any reporter could afford this apartment.

Eddie Constantine and Anna Karina in Aphaville. He’s a heavyset man with a deadpan expression, she’s behind him, her hand in front of his face, backlit like the perfect film noir femme fatale.

I hugely enjoyed Godard’s ALPHAVILLE (1965) at the BFI: part timely tech satire, part noir parody, beautifully shot by Raoul Coutard and scored by Paul Misraki. Eddie Constantine brings Leslie Nielsenesque deadpan to his galactic PI, but it’s Anna Karina who gives the movie its heart and soul.

Ralph Fiennes and Paul Scofield in QUIZ SHOW, both in dark suits, looking harrowed as they are hounded by reporters outside a Washington hearing.

Robert Redford's QUIZ SHOW (1994) is a wry, witty elegy for truth that feels more timely than ever. Paul Attanasio's dazzling screenplay tells the story as screwball tragedy, given piercing emotional force by Paul Scofield as the poet whose son (Ralph Fiennes) trades honour for TV fortune & fame.

Congratulations! That’s great news, sorry to hear the process was such a nightmare.

Congratulations to you both! Looking forward to reading these.

“Clint” Highlights the Artistic Modernity of an Old-School Man Shawn Levy’s biography of Clint Eastwood explores revelatory connections between the filmmaker’s methods and his deep-rooted world view.

“When something hits you and excites your interest, there’s really no reason to kill it with improvements.”

Clint Eastwood on his script development process from Shawn Levy's biography CLINT, reviewed by @tnyfrontrow.bsky.social: www.newyorker.com/books/under-...

Martin Cruz Smith, a white man in his 70s with his arms folded and a quizzical smile.

RIP Martin Cruz Smith, whose Arkady Renko is one of the great detectives: a wry, quixotic hero in a corrupt & decadent world. My favourite is Wolves Eat Dogs (2004) with its unforgettable Chernobyl climax, but I also love the later books as Renko finds new love & hope even in Putin's brutal regime.

Claudette Colbert looks startled and John Barrymore stern, both in exquisite evening wear in MIDNIGHT (1939)

Mitchell Leisen's MIDNIGHT (1939) is a Parisian screwball with shades of Renoir, given bite by Wilder & Brackett’s script. Claudette Colbert is a chorus girl on the make, Don Ameche her would-be beau & a rakish John Barrymore her benefactor. Criterion has an insightful essay by @dcairns.bsky.social.

Today's kids are tomorrow's artists, and with arts funding being cut everywhere it's never been more important to give them hands-on experience and a chance to express themselves as early as possible. This sounds entirely delightful, so please do help out if you're able to.

Diane Kruger and Vincent Cassel in THE SHROUDS (2025). She is facing the camera, warmly lit, he is in profile, with his back to us.

Cronenberg's THE SHROUDS (2025) is a sly, stylish conspiracy thriller about a man memorialising his late wife through surveillance technology that may have even darker purposes. It's adapted from an unmade TV series, which explains its abrupt ending, but a rich, timely, deeply felt film nonetheless.

Projectionist Carolyn Funk reflected in a scene from THE ELEPHANT MAN (1980) in an illustration by Maya Scarpa for The Washington Post.

Here's a wonderful comic drawn by Maya Scarpa from a conversation with film projectionist Carolyn Funk, about the magic of 35mm, the vital legacy of cinema and her first memory of THE ELEPHANT MAN (1980). www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/int...

Ryan Gosling in THE NICE GUYS, smoking, dishevelled, clutching a movie canister as he shelters from bullets behind a parked car.

Great to rewatch THE NICE GUYS (2016), Shane Black's sweet family comedy about a grieving dad reconnecting with his young daughter through copious violence, nudity and swearing. A terrific new video essay by @leighsinger.bsky.social on @secondsightfilms.bsky.social Bluray illuminates Black's career.

Congratulations! That’s wonderful news.

Tony Curtis whispers into Burt Lancaster's ear in Sweet Smell of Success (1957)

New BFI 35mm print of SWEET SMELL OF SUCCESS (1957) is a stunning showcase for Mackendrick's radical compositions and James Wong Howe's gorgeous NYC cinematography. Curtis & Lancaster's fearless, feral performances make every line of Lehman & Odets' screenplay slice as sharp and deep as a scalpel.

Margit Carlqvist and Jarl Kulle in Smiles of a Summer Night. They are standing in a bedroom. He is smoking a cigarette in a holder, she is brandishing a flintlock pistol.

Come and celebrate the 70th anniversary of Bergman's sublime, satirical sexual comedy SMILES OF A SUMMER NIGHT (1955) at The Garden Cinema next month. I'm introducing the screening on 14th August: www.thegardencinema.co.uk/film/smiles-...

Burt Lancaster in THE SWIMMER, looming out of the water that shimmers behind him.

Still reeling from Frank & Eleanor Perry's THE SWIMMER (1968) at BFI last night: a ruthless, ravishing horror film about capitalism that sucks you in and and drags you under alongside Burt Lancaster's Ned, one of the boldest lead performances on film. Thank you @phuonghhle.com for a terrific intro.

The Goethe-Institut in Kensington has a on-site and online courses, as well as a (mostly) German cinema programme & a free online library of German literature & film: www.goethe.de/ins/gb/en/st...

If you're looking for French lessons, the French Institute has a good mix of options (and of course a brilliant cinema & library of French films to borrow) www.institut-francais.org.uk/french-cours...

The Southbank from the north side of the Thames, lights reflected in the river at twilight on a summer night.

Love you, London ❤️

Michelle Krusiec, Joan Chen and Lynn Chen share an awkward dinner in SAVING FACE (2004)

Alice Wu's SAVING FACE (2004) is a lovely, low-key romcom starring Michelle Krusiec as a young doctor shy about her sexuality, Joan Chen as her unexpectedly pregnant mother and Lynn Chen as her dancer meet-cute. An observant, affectionate portrait of Chinese American life in New York.

Joe Shishido surrounded by dead butterflies in BRANDED TO KILL (1967)

Seijun Suzuki's delirious hit man movie BRANDED TO KILL (1967) puts the angst in gangster with sublime style, deadpan humour and a dream logic like Melville remade by Buñuel. Part of the Garden Cinema's Noir International season: thanks to @jaspersharp.bsky.social for his insightful introduction.