Film & Cinema
Film Reviews, Cinema History & World Cinema
Jackdaw Film & Cinema explores the films, filmmakers and cinema history that continue to shape the way we see the world. From Hollywood classics and British favourites to film noir, westerns, science fiction, horror and international cinema, it looks at both celebrated masterpieces and forgotten gems that deserve another audience.
Films rarely exist in isolation. They are products of their time, reflecting changing technology, fashions, anxieties and ambitions. By examining cinema in its historical and cultural context, these articles aim to uncover the stories behind the stories, and why certain films continue to endure long after the credits have rolled.
Is Cinema the Last Great Shared Experience?
The ABC cinema on Vicar Lane no longer exists, but a surprising amount of my childhood still seems to be living there. The building opened as The Ritz in 1934 and survived long enough to witness the arrival of television, video recorders, multiplexes and the internet before finally closing in February 2000. A few years later it met the wrecking ball.
Today, unless you already know what stood there, you could walk straight past the site without realising that generations of Leeds families once spent their Saturday afternoons disappearing into its darkness. I occasionally find myself doing exactly the opposite. I walk past and remember. Read More
