Author: Alan Kuhl Graham

Six Damn Fine Degrees #203: A Tale Of Two Christies

Alan Kuhl Graham3 Comments

Welcome to Six Damn Fine Degrees. These instalments will be inspired by the idea of six degrees of separation in the loosest sense. The only rule: it connects – in some way – to the previous instalment. So come join us on our weekly foray into interconnectedness!

In 2002 the UK TV Channel ITV announced that it was to begin producing an all new adaptation of Agatha Christie‘s Miss Marple novels. These would be big-budget, high-production-value affairs, with an eye on the global TV market.

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Six Damn Fine Degrees #200: A Trip Down The Damn Fine Rabbit Hole

Alan Kuhl Graham3 Comments

Welcome to Six Damn Fine Degrees. These instalments will be inspired by the idea of six degrees of separation in the loosest sense. The only rule: it connects – in some way – to the previous instalment. So come join us on our weekly foray into interconnectedness!

Earlier this year I succumbed to a particularly annoying strain of COVID. Energy-wise it wiped me out, but as an added little lurgy bonus, it made my muscles ache so much I couldn’t sleep. Feeling permanently tired, I started looking for distractions to get me through the night. My brain had reached a level of mush that actual books were too demanding, my ears had become too sensitive that watching films was uncomfortable – but short articles on the internet? Perfect.

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Six Damn Fine Degrees #194: Bong Joon-Ho’s “Memories Of Murder”

Alan Kuhl Graham4 Comments

Welcome to Six Damn Fine Degrees. These instalments will be inspired by the idea of six degrees of separation in the loosest sense. The only rule: it connects – in some way – to the previous instalment. So come join us on our weekly foray into interconnectedness!

Warning: Spoilers ahead for the film Memories of Murder.

Towards the end of lockdown, when the cinema’s reopened, I have fond memories of my earliest trips to see movies. I mean, it wasn’t quite the same. At least half the seats in most cinemas had been removed to create gaps between punters. Masks were compulsory and the experience felt jarring. But there was still something about being able to see films again on the Big Screen – especially given concerns just a few months earlier that the cinemas might never reopen.

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Six Damn Fine Degrees #192: Star 80

Alan Kuhl Graham1 Comment

Welcome to Six Damn Fine Degrees. These instalments will be inspired by the idea of six degrees of separation in the loosest sense. The only rule: it connects – in some way – to the previous instalment. So come join us on our weekly foray into interconnectedness.

In the early ’80s, Bob Fosse’s stock as a film maker couldn’t have been higher. Having revolutionised the world of theatrical dance choreography, he’d spent the ’70s building up a reputation as a major new directing talent. Cabaret and Lenny had been well regarded successes, and he’d ended the decade with All That Jazz – winning the Palme D’Or and four Oscars alongside healthy box office returns.

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Six Damn Fine Degrees #186: Scavengers Reign

Alan Kuhl Graham3 Comments

Welcome to Six Damn Fine Degrees. These instalments will be inspired by the idea of six degrees of separation in the loosest sense. The only rule: it connects – in some way – to the previous instalment. So come join us on our weekly foray into interconnectedness.

In last week’s column Matt wrote about the game S.T.A.L.K.E.R. that “You’re put in a world that is likely to eat you alive in many, many ways – but you’re also reliant on that world…“, and the moment I read those words I knew I had to abandon any plans I had to talk about another video game, or Tarkovsky, or even return to the actual Chernobyl. Because it made me want to write about my favourite TV show right now, Scavengers Reign.

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Six Damn Fine Degrees #179: Bedknobs And Broomsticks

Alan Kuhl Graham4 Comments

Welcome to Six Damn Fine Degrees. These instalments will be inspired by the idea of six degrees of separation in the loosest sense. The only rule: it connects – in some way – to the previous instalment. So come join us on our weekly foray into interconnectedness.

When looking at the vast filmography of family Disney films there is undoubtedly a top tier. The likes of Mary Poppins, Frozen or Cinderella. These are the iconic movies that helped define Disney as a brand globally. The songs have entered the popular culture, while images from these films have been marketed so aggressively they probably have more widespread recognition that most trademarks.

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Six Damn Fine Degrees #175: A Game of Coins

Alan Kuhl Graham4 Comments

Welcome to Six Damn Fine Degrees. These instalments will be inspired by the idea of six degrees of separation in the loosest sense. The only rule: it connects – in some way – to the previous instalment. So come join us on our weekly foray into interconnectedness.

On the 1st of January 2023, the Republic of Croatia adopted the Euro as its currency. It joined a currency union that stretches across the continent where around 350 million people use the same money. Well, not quite exactly the same. When a country joins, they are able to mint their own Euro coins, with a national design on one side. A coin that can be used wherever Euros are accepted.

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Six Damn Fine Degrees #171: Charles Coburn, Gentlemen Prefer Hate

Alan Kuhl Graham3 Comments

Welcome to Six Damn Fine Degrees. These instalments will be inspired by the idea of six degrees of separation in the loosest sense. The only rule: it connects – in some way – to the previous instalment. So come join us on our weekly foray into interconnectedness.

Being a fan of the Golden Age of Hollywood comes with a price. As much as you can celebrate the writing, the glamour, the celebrity even the innovation of those times, it’s very hard to immerse yourself in that era without coming up against a sad truth. Maybe it will be a scene somewhere in the film that casually drops in racism. Or an offensive stereotype with but a few seconds of screen time. And sometimes it will be the appearance of someone who you have learnt was a horrible bigot.

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Six Damn Fine Degrees #166: Fitzcarraldo

Alan Kuhl Graham6 Comments

Welcome to Six Damn Fine Degrees. These instalments will be inspired by the idea of six degrees of separation in the loosest sense. The only rule: it connects – in some way – to the previous instalment. So come join us on our weekly foray into interconnectedness.

One of the curiosities about the filmography of Werner Herzog is that it contains his own little two-film micro-genre – “fanatical madman played by Klaus Kinski goes up the Amazon to the music of Popol Vuh.” His first foray is 1972’s Aguirre, Wrath of God, which is quite possibly one of my favourite films of all times. So when I came to Fitzcarraldo, the other of the two films, I was both excited and filled with trepidation. Would it meet the earlier film’s dizzying heights?

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Six Damn Fine Degrees #160: Hollywood Steps Out

Alan Kuhl Graham5 Comments

Welcome to Six Damn Fine Degrees. These instalments will be inspired by the idea of six degrees of separation in the loosest sense. The only rule: it connects – in some way – to the previous instalment. So come join us on our weekly foray into interconnectedness

When I was a kid the cartoons of Hollywood’s Golden Age were rarely off the television. Looney Tunes and Merrie Melodies were staples on the schedule, convenient filler for when the channel had five minutes they had to fill up between bigger shows.

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