NOTHING CAN GO WRONG
WRITING A BOOK Writing a book is easy. Finishing a book is harder. Selling a book is EVEN harder in 2020 than selling a Compact Disc IN 2020 I STARTED WRITING NOTHING CAN GO WRONG…
Philip Powers
SIDNEY POITIER BLACK AND WHITE
EXPLORES THE RISE OF SIDNEY POITIER IN THE 1960s ALONGSIDE THE AMERICA CIVIL RIGHTS MOVEMENT AND RACISM IN HOLLYWOOD by Philip Powers Available from: Barnes & Noble Dymocks Amazon.com.au Amazon.co.uk eBay.com.au …
A BRIEF HISTORY OF CRICKET IN AUSTRALIA
1970 Australia left India for South Africa in late December 1969 with the belief they could conquer other continents. It was a bridge too far. They arrived cocksure and couldn’t muster a reasonable batting line-up.…
MICHAEL CRICHTON: NOTHING CAN GO WRONG
by Philip Powers RELEASED IN DECEMBER 2021 A critical examination of Michael Crichton’s books from 1968-1970, particularly through the lens of the media. “Nothing Can Go Wrong” focuses on his first book as Michael Crichton:…
SCHEDULE
THE SCHEDULE OF FILMS WEEK BY WEEK WEEK 53: 1 July – 7 July 2018 John Cassavetes – Shadows (1957), Husbands (1970), A Woman Under the Influence (1974), The Killing of a Chinese Bookie (1976), Opening…
100 GREATEST FILMS EVER
The 100 Greatest Films in One Year- “Better make that 200” Daily thoughts Day 304-365 Sunday 29 April-30 June 2018 ‘New Hosting at 100 Greatest Films Ever‘ 2018 A Philip Powers Project Day 304 Sunday 29 April 2018 11.10pm The Wild…
WHAT I’VE SEEN SO FAR
In amongst the great films listed below, I have also added other films (I’ve seen) from other top ten lists, or top 100 lists, or just, for instance, because I want to see another two…
WOMAN IN THE DUNES (1964)
WOMAN IN THE DUNES (1964) Time Out – 100 to watch IMDB’s rate: 8.5 by 13,000 voters which puts it in the Top 50 films (but which is not reflected in the Top 250 List) A…
BLADE RUNNER (1982)
IT’S NOT GENOCIDE – IT’S RETIREMENT A Few Observations by Philip Powers, 17 November 2017 Introduction #69/100 2012 Sight & Sound Critics List #67/100 2012 Sight & Sound Directors List The film is based on…
MARTIN ROSS-HALL 2017 INTERVIEW WITH PHILIP POWERS (PERIOD 2008-2017)
Martin Ross-Hall: I wanted to ask, firstly, about your years with the Sydney Symphony Orchestra and your sudden departure in mid-2017. Philip Powers: Oh, they were great years. There have been many great years but…
JEAN RENOIR’S CAMERA
An Observation by Philip Powers Jean Renoir sees film as just one thing: a film. Not in its components. Of course, it has the components, but it all works together to create a finished film…
WHEN WATCHNIG MOVIE5 BECOMES A DISORD3R
A Few Observations by Philip Powers A New Disorder – OCFD When film watching becomes a disorder or neurosis – obsessive compulsive film disorder. Unexpected Consequences In fifty days, I’ve seen, on the 100 Best Films…
TAXI DRIVER (1976)
A Few Observations by Philip Powers Background A lot has been read into Paul Schrader’s creation, Travis Bickle. The words psychotic and psychopath are used in reviews to explain his psyche and the behaviour that…
MOTHER!
A Few Observations by Philip Powers Introduction: The Entire Bible – Genesis to Revelation – in 121 minutes Introduction Space. The final frontier. These are the voyages of the film director Darren Aronofsky, in his…
KINGSMAN: ONE AND TWO
The first film was a hoot. This one was more of a shoot. As long as you’re fine with the fact that violence is a big fat joke, and Colin Firth’s recovery from violence isn’t…
2001: A SPACE ODYSSEY – THE VISION
A Few Observations by Philip Powers 2001: A Space Odyssey (1968) I watched the film. I thought about it for two weeks and then I started writing. Today was just a day of writing and…
AU HASARD BALTHAZAR [1966]
AU HASARD BALTHAZAR [1966] General Regard – 2012 Academics: #16 Ever – All-Films 2012 Directors: #21 Ever – All-Films 2002 Academics: #19 Ever – All-Films 2002 Directors: Doesn’t feature – All-Films EMPIRE MAGAZINE World 100: Doesn’t feature in…
IL CONFORMISTA 1970
BERTOLUCCI’S NON-CONFORMIST FILMMAKING A Few Observations by Philip Powers General Regard – 2012 Academics: #102 Ever – All-Films 2012 Directors: #59 Ever – All-Films 2002 Academics: Top 100 Ever – All-Films 2002 Directors: #42 Ever – All-Films EMPIRE MAGAZINE World 100: #85 in Best Foreign…
L’ATALANTE 1934
IT’S A BARGE A Few Observations by Philip Powers General Regard – 2012 Academics: #12 Ever – All-Films 2012 Directors: #22 Ever – All-Films 2002 Academics: #16 Ever – All-Films 1992 Academics: #6 Ever – All-Films 1962 Academics: #10 Ever – All-Films…
THE DEMISE OF FRANCIS FORD COPPOLA’S ZOETROPE STUDIOS
A few observations by Philip Powers Coppola the studio chief, the auteur and the collaborationist After reading – in July and August 2017 – many books quoting interviews, and newspaper articles, I came to have…
SIMON WALKER – A RECOLLECTION
20 August 2017 This day, 37 years ago, 20 August 1980, was the day I met Simon Walker. It was an extraordinary day that changed my life, forever. Probably not his so much, but mine,…
IMPORTANT DIRECTORS
A Few Observations by Philip Powers Background – Misguided Youthful Prejudices It’s to my shame that when I thought of important directors up until 1 July 2017, the names that came to mind were mainly…
WINTER LIGHT (1963)
A Few Observations by Philip Powers Background Winter Light (1963) is the second film in Ingmar Bergman’s three consecutive films which became known as the ‘Faith trilogy’; or the “Silence of God” trilogy. Even though…
INSIDE ‘THE OUTSIDERS’
Inside ‘The Outsiders’ -S.E. Hinton and Francis Ford Coppola – The Miracle of Creation Another few observations by Philip Powers In Hollywood, The Insiders have the clout and The Outsiders are the filmmakers. The Outsiders are hired…
THE GODFATHER (1972)
Does The Godfather Live Up to it’s Reputation? I watched The Godfather one night, then my wife went to bed and I picked up my remote control, pressed ENTER, and watched it again, all 2…
SURELY, A 100 GREATEST FILMS EVER LIST DOESN’T MAKE SENSE!
Surely, a 100 Greatest Films Ever List Doesn’t Make Sense! “It’s Not My List, It’s Their List.”- Philip Powers, 21 July ’17 Another few observations by Philip Powers © Philip Powers 20170723 As I started…
STARTING OUT – TIME WILL TELL
Another few observations by Philip Powers When someone saw my first published film reviews, written as a student at the University of NSW for their newspaper in 1981 (Outland and Airplane! [aka. Flying High]), he asked…
A CRITIC – JUST ANOTHER PERSON WITH AN OPINION
Another few observations by Philip Powers I’m not trying to come up with a comprehensive list of the top hundred films – which will represent my opinion – ever made, by the time I reach…
VERTIGO 1958
A PATCH OF RED A Few Observations by Philip Powers General Regard – 2012 Critics/Academics: #1 Ever – All-Films 2012 Directors: #6 Ever – All-Films 2002 Critics/Academics: #2 Ever – All-Films 2002 Directors: #6 Ever…
FILM CRAZY
Another few observations by Philip Powers Only three of my favourite hundred films appear in this list and despite the fact that in the first thirty years of my life I’d already seen about 80%…
THE LIST
HERE IS A SCREEN SHOT OF MY SPREADSHEET THE TOP 90 FILMS & MY PROGRESS p.s. my photo was in focus – sorry about that, Chief!
THE MISSION
THE MISSION … to watch the one hundred (and fifty, or more – maybe two hundred) greatest films ever made, in 52 weeks, starting on July 1, 2017 with Buster Keaton in The General (1926)…
THE VERY BEGINNING – THE PLAN
Another few observations by Philip Powers So, it has just begun. One Hundred and Fifty Great Films in 52 Weeks. The choice of films I’ve compiled in a long and extensive list of cinema from many…
OBSERVATIONS BY PHILIP POWERS
THINGS I THINK When I have a particular observation, phrase, poem, statement – “OR JUST QUOTES” – which I want to say, write or express, I’ll put it here. It’s an observation. It’s a new…
JAMES HARVEY 2014 INTERVIEW WITH PHILIP POWERS (PERIOD 1984-1989)
James Harvey: Tell me about 1988 when you started something unique in Australia. Philip Powers: You mean the record label, 1M1? JH: Yes, the origin of your Australian film soundtrack label. PP: In 1988, I…
JAMES HARVEY 2014 INTERVIEW WITH PHILIP POWERS (PERIOD 1989-1990)
James Harvey: Tell me about 1989 when you started doing several film soundtracks in one year. Philip Powers: It was a bad two years and although I remember doing two CDs consisting of five scores…
JAMES HARVEY 2014 INTERVIEW WITH PHILIP POWERS (PERIOD 1986-1988)
James Harvey: Where we left off last time was the beginning of the 1M1 label. Philip Powers: That’s right. I remember. I was talking about the jobs that led to my first recording producer credit…