David Cottis

David Cottis

@davidcottis.bsky.social

Academic, director, snapper up of unconsidered trifles.

687 followers183 following730 posts

David Cottis reposted

INDICATOR
@indicator.bsky.social

WIN NIGHT OF THE DEMON ANNIVERSARY EDITION 666/2000 Unavailable for eight years, our legendary Limited Edition Blu-ray release of NIGHT OF THE DEMON has been resurrected! RT this post for a chance to WIN copy number 666/2000 powerhousefilms.co.uk/products/night-of-the-demon-anniversary-edition-le

powerhousefilms.co.ukNIGHT OF THE DEMON (ANNIVERSARY EDITION) - LE(Jacques Tourneur, 1957, 96/82 mins)Release date: 19 October 2026Limited Edition 2 x Blu-ray NOTE: This two-disc Tenth Anniversary Limited Edition contains identical disc and book content to the original 2018 Limited Edition of Night of the Demon.Based on M R James’ classic tale of terror, ‘Casting the Runes’, and adap
David Cottis
@davidcottis.bsky.social

Emphatic phrases that can be added to any word, at different points in linguistic history: -sville (or if you really want to hammer it home -'sville, Arizona), - City, -, much?, - o'clock, -core. Any more?

David Cottis
@davidcottis.bsky.social

Decided it was time finally to read this, half a century after reading Orwell's essay on it, so ordered a copy on Abe Books. The cover is exactly what you'd hope:

David Cottis
@davidcottis.bsky.social

Back in the '80s, the late Stephen Jeffreys used to run a writing workshop in which you would study dramatic structure by putting the same story into 2- 3- and 4-act versions. The story he chose? The Rise and Fall of Jeffrey Archer.

David Cottis
@davidcottis.bsky.social

Clerkenwell vignette: As I'm walking past Spa Fields, I see a group of people in full lion dance costume, getting ready to rehearse. Some, but not all, are Chinese. As I move on, one guy arrives late and apologises in German. He takes his place, the rehearsal starts.

David Cottis
@davidcottis.bsky.social

... it's acquired a cult following, and a bit of a cultural footprint, as a template for the Knives Out franchise. It becomes a lot less interesting after the murder, as increasingly elaborate plot twists pile up, with little concern for probability or character logic. (2/3)

David Cottis
@davidcottis.bsky.social

I'd actually seen it before, but had forgotten whodunnit, which tells you something. A very strange, and archetypely '70s cast - surely having Raquel Welch and Dyan Cannon in the same film is the definition of redundancy? (3/3)

David Cottis
@davidcottis.bsky.social

Two people behind me in the Piccolo Theatre, Edinburgh: She: Would you mind if I sat next to you? He: I would be delighted. I may have just witnessed a real-life meet-cute.

David Cottis
@davidcottis.bsky.social

Two women overheard before the start of a play in the West End. First: Do you have any idea how long it is? Second: (shrugs) Longer than The Gruffalo, shorter than Hamlet.

David Cottis
@davidcottis.bsky.social

Weird to remember how relieved many Americans were, back in 1976, at the fact that Richard Nixon had resigned, thus saving them from having an embarrassing President for the Bicentennial...

David Cottis
@davidcottis.bsky.social

Ruth Gordon and Garson Kanin structure it like a stage play, complete with act and scene titles, and George Cukor directs accordingly, sometimes moving the camera so that action is kept teasingly offscreen. Great support from Judy Holliday and Tom Ewell... (2/3)

David Cottis
@davidcottis.bsky.social

plus David Wayne as a creepy neighbour with a thing for Hepburn. The sexual politics have dated a bit, but in the end it's Tracy and Hepburn's onscreen (and real-life) chemistry that makes this work - has any extra-marital affair ever been so artistically productive? (3/3)

David Cottis
@davidcottis.bsky.social

I've just unfollowed someone who argued that Reform deliberately lost Makerfield by putting up a poor candidate, in the hope that a leadership contest will weaken the government more than losing a by-election. Truly, the British left's ability to find a bad/pessimistic take never ceases to amaze me.

David Cottis
@davidcottis.bsky.social

Interesting list, which suggests two things about Stephen Sondheim: 1. He didn't listen to many songs that weren't from musicals, 2. He had an ear for the diamond in a generally undistinguished score - how many people would quote a song from Kelly? www.youtube.com/playlist?lis...

youtube.comStephen Sondheim: Fifty Songs I Wish I'd Written - YouTubeAs listed in Mark Eden Horowitz’s book of conversations with the songwriter, “Sondheim on Music: Minor Details and Major Decisions.” I was unable to find Pet...
David Cottis
@davidcottis.bsky.social

Cardiff Uni wants to scrap the 2nd floor of the Arts and Social Studies Library. We're talking 7km of books and vital study space gone to make way for classrooms. Please help us save this crucial campus resource before it's ripped out in June! Add your name here: you.38degrees.org.uk/petitions/sa...

you.38degrees.org.ukStop Cardiff University from scrapping the ASSL's second floor!thousands of books and crucial study spaces are at risk. Cardiff Uni wants to repurpose the busiest library on campus into classrooms. Help protect our library and sign the petition today.
David Cottis
@davidcottis.bsky.social

Picture sags a bit at the end, but is sustained by the location shooting and the chemistry between the two leads. Whiteley said as an adult that Bogarde was a real pleasure to work with, like an older brother, and bought him a Tri-ang tractor at the end of the shoot. (3/3)

David Cottis
@davidcottis.bsky.social

... who went on to appear for Fritz Lang in Moonfleet and to win an honourary Oscar at the age of 14, after which he retired from acting, took a history degree at Oxford and became a highly respected art historian, working at the Ashmolean until his death in 2020. (2/3)

View full thread
David Cottis
@davidcottis.bsky.social

It's kind of ironic. The Room is a bad film because it takes moments from other films without realising why they work ('You're tearing me apart!'), so that out of context, they don't. This group does exactly the same thing with screenings of The Room... (3/4)

David Cottis
@davidcottis.bsky.social

... using techniques without an understanding of context - the 'Go! Go!'s are because of specific repeated tracking shot, the spoons are because of the film's preoccupation with those items. The group falls foul of the failing they mock. (4/4)

David Cottis
@davidcottis.bsky.social

... being more a precursor to the subterranean horror genre as in The Descent. The club has a set of audience participation rules, based on those used for screenings of The Room - shouting 'Go! Go!' during slow-paced scenes, throwing wooden spoons at the screen during bits you don't like. (2/4)

David Cottis
@davidcottis.bsky.social

... like a Jacobean tragedy or film noir, but distinctively Japanese with it. Also, such a rare experience these days to see a classic film in a full cinema, with an audience who mostly (including me) had no idea of the story beforehand, and could react en masse to every plot twist. (2/2)

David Cottis
@davidcottis.bsky.social

So... I'm in one of the Exchange shops in Notting Hill, and I notice that the assistant is carrying out an informal survey in which she asks male customers 'Do you think Sydney Sweeney is hot or not?' I spend a few minutes shopping, thinking up a good answer. When I reach the counter...(1/2)

David Cottis
@davidcottis.bsky.social

Been doing a watchthrough of 'Frasier' lately, and it's striking what a stroke a genius the character of Martin Crane, and the performance of John Mahoney, was and how central to the success of the series. It would have been so easy to make Frasier's dad boorish and uncouth... (1/2)

David Cottis
@davidcottis.bsky.social

... but instead they made him a clever, though uneducated, blue-collar guy, who could hold his own with both of his sons. The Crane boys may have got their tastes and lifestyles from their mother, but where wit was concerned, they clearly took after their old man. (2/2)