Frame by Frame

Butch Cassidy & The Sundance Kid has always been special to me because of my dad- and how it helped open up classic cinema for me. He introduced me to it in my early teens when I was still a fussy little prick when it came to only watching ‘modern’ movies- and never told me it had come out in 1969. This film became an instant favourite- and when I found out how ‘old’ it was I instantly saw how ridiculous my prejudice against older movies was. I’ve known a hell of a lot of people who have this arbitrary hatred towards “old” films because they assume they won’t like them- and my experience with Butch & Sundance taught me just how tragic this perspective is. If you think like this- then you could be cheating yourself out of some of your absolute favourite new films for no reason at all. Get over yourself, ignore the numbers- and enjoy some classic cinema. All your modern favourites will be old someday too- and that doesn’t make them any less special...

  I first saw Thief at an all-night movie marathon dedicated to its director, Michael Mann- and it floored me. After years championing uber-modern classics like Heat and The Insider I was smacked in the face with another film that could stand up to even their genius. It’s just as cutting-edge, viciously incisive and disarmingly human as anything he’s made since- and demands to be seen and loved by anyone with even half an eye on great crime cinema...