2020 – BAFTD

The Ghost of Christmas Past – Intermission – Dec. 2020

21st December 20203rd January 2021 BAFTD

As the usher brings forth the Ice cream and snacks, we wait for the main feature to resume The Ghost of Christmas Past Christmas is upon us, after a tough year for the whole world we all want to have a holiday that we all enjoy and takes us away from everyday stresses. If you’re a regular reader of BAFD you’ll know that’s what this place is about. It’s even written in the mission statement. As with a lot of people Christmas makes me think of Christmas’s past. My parents…

Dave Prowse (1935 – 2020)

30th November 202028th July 2021 BAFTD

There has been a great Disturbance in the Force When I sat in the Cinema in 1978 I along with the rest of the world had never seen anything the like of Star Wars. Two scenes everyone always remembers are the Star Destroyer flying overhead and our first glimpse of Darth Vader. Striding through the smoke and stepping over the bodies has there ever been a better entrance or introduction of a character? No words need to be said because long before you see the details of what he is…

The DeLorean Time Travel Consultant – Intermission – Nov. 2020

4th November 202021st December 2020 BAFTD

As the usher brings forth the Ice cream and snacks, we wait for the main feature to resume The DeLorean Time Travel Consultant First some house keeping, as the clean up crew sweep up the popcorn off the floor let us begin. I didn’t do an Intermission post last month because I’m still trying to catch up and get into a flow of things again. Last month by the time I was ready to write one it was too late to publish it for that month. The current situation has…

Grimmfest 2020 – Online Edition

27th October 202028th July 2021 BAFTD

In a similar vain to Frightfest this years Grimmfest went online, I mentioned in my round up of Frightfest that this is the responsible thing to do in a Pandemic and also enabled people like myself and my Wife to be involved. It would be extremely unlikely we would ever be able to attend their physical events so we have been incredibly excited to be involved with the online editions. I do really hope that even when the physical events return that the online versions remain in some form. It…

The Cinema is Dead, Long live the Cinema

5th October 202028th July 2021 BAFTD

The Cinema is Dead, Long live the Cinema! I normally avoid topics that are current and involve business models, however I decided considering what I cover in this blog I couldn’t really avoid this subject. A few days ago it was announced that ‘A Time to Die’ the next James Bond film has pushed it’s release from November to April 2021. The majority of other blockbuster films have already been pushed through to next year so this announcement was far later than them. It has now been released that Cineworld…

Worlds to Escape into Part 2 ……. Mars

1st October 202022nd March 2021 BAFTD

Sometimes we all just need another world to escape into …… …. Part 2 – Mars In the second part of this article rather than give suggestions on different fictional (and real) worlds to escape to, I thought I would give you an entire planet. The planet in question is Mars, a place which has fascinated mankind for thousands of years. It is second only to Venus in brightness and can be seen with the naked eye from earth. It’s visibility means that man has constantly looked to the red…

Baby Yoda’s Umbrella – Intermission September 2020

21st September 20203rd November 2020 BAFTD

As the usher brings forth the Ice cream and snacks, we wait for the main feature to resume Baby Yoda’s Umbrella I’ve tried to write this a few times but it has been difficult because as you will read all over this site BAFTD is a positive space, it’s where I like to write things away from the daily stresses of life. It however is difficult to keep that mantra considering the world events over the past 8 months. This is a strange intermission for several reasons, one reason is…

Frightfest 2020 Digital Edition

14th September 20205th March 2021 BAFTD

Frightfest (also known as London Frightfest) this year decided to do a Digital edition due to the ongoing COVID-19 situation. Just like some other well known festivals they decided to bring their content online in order to continue to engage with everyone. It is a huge achievement that they managed to bring this together both technology wise and with rights issues in such a short period of time. Frightfest started in the year 2000, it was put together by Paul MCavoy, Ian Rattray and Greg Day. In the past 20…

So Where’s the Zombies? – UPDATE

28th August 202030th September 2020 BAFTD

To quote Bjork (a sentence I never thought I’d use) …. It’s Oh so quiet …… Yes it has unfortunately been very quiet. I never thought I would have such a break from the blog, but I never also thought we’d have a global pandemic (at least not without Zombies). The Past few months have been difficult for many, myself included. The limitations the Lockdown put on us (and even as it lifts some of those remain) along with the stress of being a full time carer to my Wife…

The Empire Strikes Back at 40

18th May 202030th November 2020 BAFTD

Forty years ago ‘The Empire Strikes Back’ leapt onto our screens, following up on one of the biggest films of all time was not going to be an easy task. Empire managed it by taking a darker tone and by doing so managed to be different, yet keep the essence of what made Star Wars (later to be renamed A New Hope) such a great film. In an early draft of Star Wars George Lucas referred to his story being in the tradition of Edgar Rice Burroughs “John Carter of…