Paul Markey

Writer, projectionist and cinephile

Die Hard turns 30 - Yippee ki-yay!

Celebrating the anniversary of the greatest action blockbuster of them all... or is it the greatest Christmas movie of them all? Or both?

Film • 18 Jul 18

One of the few available pictures of legendary artist Steve Ditko (Courtesy of Marvel Comics)

Steve Ditko remembered - the enigma behind Spider-Man

One of the tropes of comic books is that nobody of note ever really dies, most especially the hero. But one of the burdens of crawling up on real-life middle age is that you live to see your heroes die.

Comics • 09 Jul 18

Harlan Ellison remembered - the greatest writer you've never read

Dying in his sleep seems a most understated exit for Harlan Ellison, one of the greatest writers of speculative fiction, or science fiction, if you will. Though not Sci-Fi. He absolutely loathed that term - "Like calling women, Broads."

Books • 30 Jun 18

Print out - how I finally reduced my book pile

Following this year's a double-wammy of bird flu and root canal, I reached an impasse in my life and knew something fundamental had to change.

Books • 01 Jul 18

Keir Dullea in Stanley Kubrick's 2001: A Space Odyssey

2001: A Space Odyssey at 50 - have a good trip!

I'm not fond of those endless online clickbait lists. I couldn't even name my Top Ten films, because, you know, only TEN? Art can't and shouldn't be placed in some sort of numerical scoreboard.

Film • 09 May 18

Why Steven Spielberg is the ultimate Hollywood player

For cultural connoisseurs of my generation, there is a certain list of 'old' masters that had a huge baring on our lives, almost from day one.

Film • 03 Apr 18

My life of stuff - an autobiography in ticket stubs

I moved five times in three years. I was lucky enough to have options, at least, as it was just before the current housing crisis kicked in. And I did eventually find a long-lasting home at the end of those wilderness years (in which I still live).

Culture • 29 Mar 18

#TimesUp for Woody? Deconstructing Woody Allen's trial by media

In the history of moving pictures there's never been an award season quite like this one. Its annual role in reflecting the genuine merit of cinema has been mostly reduced to an aggressive marketing contest.

Film • 05 Feb 18

Paul Markey's Best Movies Of 2017

2017 was the year in which I became all Marvel-ed out. And DC-ed, for that matter.

Film • 29 Dec 17

Paul Markey - the force is strong with this one.

The Second-To-Last Jedi - Star Wars & me

On a recent visit to New York I encountered my mortality, not in the more traditional area of its mean streets, but in one of its many cool museums, where I discovered that the toys I'd grown up with as a child now qualified as museum pieces.

Star Wars • 15 Dec 17