Pomona Rewind

It's sometimes taken for granted today how risky it was for man to walk on the moon. The world will always remember Neil Armstrong as the person who first set foot on the planet. But the magnitude of his and NASA's achievement has not been truly appreciated. Damien Chazelle's 'First Man' sets out to right that wrong by focussing on the price paid by the astronauts, NASA scientists and their families as they sought to assert the US's supremacy over the Soviet Union in the space race. Life and limb were regularly put on the line in pursuit of a dream that some people in the United States thought was a horrendous waste of government money and effort. Sometimes lives were lost as NASA tried to push the boundaries of space exploration. 'First Man' begins with Ryan Gosling's Armstrong as a test pilot flying an X-15 rocket plane penetrating the Earth's surface. The plane rattles as he manages to steer it back to the Mojave Desert a

Every now and again, English cinema throws up distinctive, uncompromising and imaginative new voices. Ken Loach announced himself as a cinematic force with 'Poor Cow' in 1967 and 'Kes' two years later. Then he dabbled in television before returning to the big screen with powerful left wing drama such as 'Hidden Agenda', 'Riff Raff', ' Raining Stones ', ' Land and Freedom ', ' The Wind That Shakes The Barley ' and the quirky comedy, ' Looking for Eric '. Mike Leigh announced himself as a major filmmaking talent in 1971 with ' Bleak Moments ', flitted between the theatre and BBC television plays, before going on to make some classic films like 'High Hopes', 'Life Is Sweet', 'Naked', 'Secrets and Lies', 'Vera Drake' and 'Happy Go Lucky'. In recent years, Shane Meadows with films as varied as 'Twenty-Four Seven', 'Dead Man's Shoes', '

A black and white film, not in the English language, could walk away on Sunday night with the Best Picture Oscar. That film is Alfonso Cuaron's autobiographical Mexican tale ' Roma '. However another black and white film not in the English should also have been a Best Picture nominee this year. Pawel Pawlikowski's 'Cold War' is a jaw droppingly beautiful episodic film - dazzlingly shot, artfully constructed, brilliantly acted. Set in the years 1949 to 1964, it depicts a passionate love affair between Joanna Kulig's feisty Zula and Tomasz Kot's Wiktor against the backdrop of an oppressive, paranoid Communist regime. Zula and Wiktor's love is even more tormented than Emma Stone's Mia and Ryan Gosling's Sebastian in ' La La Land '. Like Damien Chazelle's film, Pawlikowski's weaves a rich tapestry of music to accentuate the joy and the pain - although its sweep is even more elaborate, taking its audience on a son

This Valentine's Day I think my wife might be giving me a spade. How did I could come to that conclusion? Well, she suggested I should write a special Valentine's piece on romantic movies for this website.  So, taking up the challenge, I have decided to dig myself an even bigger hole than I normally do with my recommendations for 10 classic romantic movies.  Some of the choices are pretty obvious. Others, hopefully, less so. Feel free to lambast my choice or come up with your own suggestions. SUNRISE: A SONG OF TWO HUMANS (1927) We start with FW Murnau's classic silent movie - not only one of the greatest romantic movies ever made but one of the greatest movies ever made. It focusses on a love triangle. A down on his luck farmer, Man (George O'Brien) is having an affair with a Woman from the City (Margaret Livingston). She urges him to leave his Wife (Janet Gaynor), sell his farm and forge a new life with her. They hatch a plot to drow

In 1954, the Italian director Roberto Rossellini made the post-War drama, 'Viaggo in Italia' ( Journey to Italy ) about a British couple whose marriage was disintegrating. Recently re-released in arthouse cinemas, 'Viaggo in Italia' features Ingrid Bergman and George Sanders as Katherine and Alex Joyce who arrive in Naples to sell a property owned by a recently deceased relative called Uncle Homer and do a little sightseeing while they are there. As they embark on their odyssey, the Joyces bicker, head off on their own separate sightseeing jaunts, contemplate divorce and are deeply affected by the landscape around them. This ultimately leads to a gripping conclusion that will impact on their marriage at the ruins of Pompei. Watching it now, Rossellini's film is way ahead of its time. Rossellini is not afraid to tip a nod during the course of the film to other works of art.  The choice of names for his characters - Homer and Joyce - deliberately al