I wrote a few bits and pieces for Birth.Movies.Death in the year or so before its sudden demise. I really enjoyed being part of it; they were a good bunch of people and (very unusually) the ‘below the line’ community were generally great too. Sad to see it go, but here’s what I snuck in before it went. Most of these pieces were for the print magazines co-published with Mondo (they paid more), but some were just for the site.
Reservoir Dogs: A Banned Apart
From the Quentin Tarantino special issue. Feature about Reservoir Dogs’ wilderness years in the UK.
Two features in the Star Wars: the Rise of Skywalker special issue. The first is a history of the character Grand Admiral Thrawn, and the other is on the ‘Space Western’ genre.
André Øvredal: Scary Stories‘ New Horror Master
From the 2019 horror special. Feature about the Norwegian director who’d just made Scary Stories to Tell in the Dark. Includes quotes from him and from Brian Cox, which came from my set visit to The Autopsy of Jane Doe a few years earlier.
Where Did All the Happy Clowns Go?
Also from the 2019 horror special (can’t remember why I didn’t PDF these together). Feature about clowns on film and society’s increasing coulrophobia, including a bit of clown history.
All Hail Vin Diesel: King of the Riddick-ulous
From the Spring 2020 special issue. Profile of Vin Diesel, including snippets of conversations I had with the man himself on the sets of Riddick, Fast & Furious 7 and The Last Witch Hunter.
Never Say Never to Never Say Never Again (and others)
From the James Bond special issue that eventually arrived in April 2021 after all the Covid delays and the death of BMD itself. Three features: one on the Roger Moore films, another comparing and contrasting Thunderball and its unofficial remake Never Say Never Again, and one on actors who have ‘played’ Bond via narrating audiobooks. Quick interviews with Ian Ogilvy and David Rintoul in the latter.
The Invisible Man: The Cure for H.G. Wells-ness
Interview with the composer Benjamin Wallfisch about his score for James Wannel’s 2020 The Invisible Man. Wallfisch also scored Gore Verbinski’s A Cure for Wellness, hence the pun.
A website editorial on Joel Edgerton’s 2015 psychological thriller The Gift. Published as part of a series called With Friends Like These… coinciding with the release of Tate Taylor’s Ma in 2019. (See also this thing Phil De Semlyen and I wrote about ‘…from Hell’ movies a few years ago.)
In Defence of The Darjeeling Limited
A website editorial on Wes Anderson’s least popular film. It’s hit and miss whether BMD is still online these days, but even when it’s up I can’t find this piece anymore. So the link above is to a re-post on Medium.
The Running Man: Running on Empty
Editorial for a Stephen King season on the novel The Running Man and the Schwarzenegger movie that “adapted” it. I’ve got all the time in the world for ’80s Arnold, but The Running Man is bottom of the barrel for me. I would genuinely rather watch Red Sonja.
The artwork I’ve used above is by Christopher Cox via a studio called ChangeTheThought. The Running Man – from its costumes, production design and photography to its promotional campaigns – is aesthetically a deeply unattractive film. This is the only Running Man art I’ve ever seen that I actually like. The whole set is here and the bit I’ve used is with Christopher’s very kind permission.
Owen Williams 