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Coincidentally I watched this on the weekend for the first time. It was a very interesting movie. The cinematography was beautiful. It was pretty easy to follow. I think it's a good film to watch if you want a concise story of the life of Jesus.

Michael, your terrific dive into this film makes me want to see it. Sounds a bit similar to Rossellini's The Flowers of St. Francis, one of my 13 all time favorite films, in that it uses non professional actors. BTW I see no contradiction whatsoever in an atheist admiring or even loving Jesus who was one of the most beautiful souls to ever walk this earth. He was indeed a rebel and a rebellion can not be organized.

The fidelity of the teleplay to the Bible, in conjunction with some of the musical choices you mention, create for me quite an intriguing prospect. I find some of the most powerful spiritual pieces inspire contemplation based less on the mere "re-telling" of the relevant pericope, and more on the cinematic flourishes that enhance it. Will definitely check it out, especially to attempt to glean what the story means to a professed non-believer in the director.

Great extrospection. Incredible positive knowledge shared, many thanks. Suggestions - Comedy, Documentary and Rites of Passage (not necessarily youth to adult). Great podcast, have already dipped into its depth, fantastic reviews and recommendations, all the way through. Keep shining that light, it be soul passing, spreading........ a little happiness as you go by, sang Sting.

Not having yet experienced this major film remains one of the most egregious gaps in my cinematic education. Your informative commentary entices to make more effort to seek this out. A friend of mine who has seen this one on DVD has written how the unembellished inclusion of the direct quotes from the Gospel could have the effect of making the figure of Jesus even more appealing or compelling, or conversely reinforce an unbeliever's antipathy to the message being communicated (which was his own experience). Nonetheless, he made it clear that this is an important and accomplished work of cinematic art.

Excellent review and analysis! I haven't seen this film but want to after watching your video. I looked for it and found that it is available on TH-cam! 👍

I agree with your rankings on the whole but i feel the ash tree should be much higher.... i suppose my age when i first watched this contributes to my love of it..... the spider things at the end chilled me to the bone..!

New Rule. Nothing negative can ever be said about the Hammer House of Horror DVD !

Scott of the Antarctic when I was 8 . It was on every Sunday afternoon, brilliant, sad and poignant portrayal of doomed plucky Edwardian Brits. Shaped my life. In a good way.

Hi Michael, do you know where I can stream the videos in-full, specifically your top 3 picks? I’m in Canada and I can only find segments here and there on TH-cam. Cheers and happy New Year 😊

Love this film. I think the likes of Price and Pleasance would have recognised it for what it was and having placed their tongues firmly in their cheeks, would have had a whale of a time making it. Totally agree with you about the artwork used in the final story, brilliant. Watched `The world of Hammer` on TPTV last night and I could swear that a location used in that final story (the start of the access road to the village), was used in a `on the buses` film made by hammer ! The bus is seen swinging off the main road into the lane, just as the police car did in Monster Club. Check it out, see if you agree.

Fawlty Towers Mrs Richards is fabulous. I would add to this list The Detectorists as a brilliant British sitcom. Early Simpsons were peerless. One I also liked was Lead Balloon with Jack Dee a variant on the curb your enthusiasm series. Not sitcom but did you ever wtch Monkey Dust , early 2000's animated comedy on bbc , just brilliant dystopian and brutal but very very funny. Look out for the Peadofinder General on series 2 onwards

I love Ivor's work. I managed to track down some of the old bbc sessions he did over time. One if the sessions he did with Andy Kershaw included some chat in-between songs and poems it was brilliant and a window into Ivors world. My favourite ever piece he did was called "the Aggressive Onion Vendor' just sublime. Also the album he did called Prince Ivor featuring radio 3 plays from early 80's His work should be on the national curriculum

Hi Michael, one film my nephew recommended was Dean Spanley. Same Neill and Peter O'Toole . More suited to dog lovers than cat people but I loved it and nobody seems to have seen it. Also what's your thoughts on the films of Jodorowski? He was one of my favourite film makers especially Holy Mountain and El Topo. Best regards David

Just found your channel and really enjoying your down to earth style!

Tales from the Crypt 1972 remains my favorite saw for my 11th birthday when I had a fun mom she was 34 now 86 going on 97 lol but seen a few others edited for the tele here in the States yes I am an American lol.

Demons appears to be on TH-cam, full version from the blu ray. 😊

Greetings and happy New Year to Mike and Nikolaj! Mike, I hope and am looking forward to your ongoing Pasolini retrospective, and also am curious about a Polanski survey you were considering. I admire your attention to such major artists, and your willingness to confront the controversial legacies of such filmmakers as Pasolini.

I think a lot of people have a Roger Moore film in their top 5 that isn’t The Spy Who Loved Me. Mine is Octopussy. Although Moonraker isn’t in my top 10, it’s certainly an entertaining watch!

What an enjoyable conversation. Now I will have to search out Nikolaj's channel. A few things. "Life is in color. But black and white is more realistic. --"Sam Fuller Bingo!! The Shop Around the Corner is just sublime in every way. Lubitsch at his best and Margaret Sullivan's performance is, well, you just can not get any better than this Brief Encounter is SO much better than Kwai and Lawrence of Arabia. If you give in and decide to see Lawrence, be sure to take your pajamas and a glass of warm milk. You will get the best sleep of your life. I got ONE of the best sleeps ever but back then I was bursting with life when I first saw it as a young man. Dead of Night I really think is a masterpiece of its kind. And wasn't the circular story unique at its time? The Sally Ann Howes segment i really love almost as much as the dummy one.

I thought Lot 249 was OK, but if you thought that was bad, this years was an absolute atrocity, full of white man hating woke trash, I was actually shocked quite how bad it was maybe you should watch it?! Nice to see someone talking about these films, and I completely agree, although I didn't see as many at the time as you did. I thought they did The Woman in Black as well, am I mistaken, I'm sure I saw it on BBC2 Christmas Eve once?

I do remember this one and being sacrificed when I went in the room under the stairs, lol. I did love this series of books, and Steve Jacksons Sorcery! trilogy.

Ref: the part about you feeling like you're in a "rut" with the channel: I think as a content creator, and considering the inherent nature of the platform, that is inevitable sooner or later. However, I hope it is encouraging to you to hear that I (and hopefully I am not alone) am not merely here to revel in topics of which I'm already well versed...I equally enjoy learning about the art and artistry of cinema as a whole, which includes many filmmakers and themes of which I know nothing. Part of the attraction of this channel is exposing quasi-mainstream fellows like myself to a larger world, which I think makes us better people, all things considered. Having said that, your diversity of topics is outstanding

Just so you know, I really enjoy your BBC Shakespeare videos-- so you've got one person invested in that series at least!

Couldn’t cope without Identity Crisis and Any Port ❤❤❤

I feel so stupid, I’ve deeply loved Columbo (70’s really) forever, but only just now crossed my mind to listen to another ‘nerd/lover’ talk about it. New best video on youtube, very early push for voty 😂

The nurse on the slab illustration was removed quite early on from the Puffin reprints.Don't know if it appears in the Wizard edition but it is in the app version (with colour option for all ipics). Theres a fine 'amateur sequel' on the fighting fantasy project site called House of Horror that's worth a look. This one is my favourite (along with Sorcery),has a Devil Rides Out vibe.

Schalken the Painter is my favourite, as it is so beautifully shot - every single frame of film looks like a painting - as well as being well-acted. My 2nd favourite is Stalls of Barchester, 3rd is WAICTY, 4th Treasure of Abbot Thomas, 5th The Signalman, 6th Warning to the Curious, 7th Lost Hearts, 8th The Ash Tree. Stigma and Ice House, being modern stories, I don't count, as I think that a Xmas ghost story really needs to have a period setting.

What a surprise to hear that my favourite director was a fan of Scream and Scream Again. It happens to be one of my favourite sci-fi horror films, despite being quite mad. I read the book it was based on at age twelve, and it had quite an impact on me. The human experiments reminded me of that shocking scene in O Lucky Man! Learning this makes me wonder whether Buñuel was a Monty Python fan. I don’t know which was made first, but in the same year, Buñuel had a scene in The Phantom of Liberty where a dinner party takes place with diners all on flushing toilets, and in Monty Python’s The Most Awful Family in Britain skit they have the same gag. I always assumed that Pythons were paying homage to Buñuel, but maybe it was the other way round?

Really enjoyed the conversation. Sometimes thinking if our love for old films is not related to being 'old souls' somehow. Often I enjoy watching 20's & 30's films for the atmosphere, architecture, design and costumes, not to mention the music and sound design. The early Hitchcock films and French films from that era are really a delight to watch. Jean Renoir's films are wonderful. A suggestion for you to watch an underrated film of his called 'Le Dejeuner sur l'Herbe' (1959), a film I love and nobody knows about it. Happy new Year, Michael!

I watched this video on Nikolaj's channel when he posted it a few weeks ago and will watch it again here too, now that I see it posted on your channel. I enjoyed your chat. 👍

Looking forward to have another chat another time. Happy New Year!

Newgrange, which is a large passage tomb in Ireland, is older than both Stonehenge and the pyramids

If you ever visit Dublin, I would highly recommend Bunsen, great burgers!

My favourite game is for PC and is something you might like, it’s called Thief The Dark Project. It is more or less a film noir with a medieval steampunk setting, a conflict between creepy pagans and an organised religion similar to Catholicism and you visit haunted cathedrals, lost cities and old mansions.

Have not seen any of these but just wanted to pop in to wish you a great New Year and all the best in 2025. Your channel is superb!

The Tractate Midroth is the best modern one. Despite the weird diversity; they just can't help themselves.

I have all them except The Pogles and Nightmare Man. There was also The Doombolt Chase and King of The Castle and Raven, with Phil Daniels! Great stuff! 🖤👍

It’s just a shame they never did a film of ‘Casting The Runes’, arguably James’ best story. There was a modern-day version by ITV in 1979, but a period adaptation with, say, Robert Lang as Karswell would have been great. I fear Gatiss will take it on eventually.

I so enjoyed this!!! I lived for these adaptations of M R James etc...going back to the early 1960s tv ghost story with the spirit of a little girl in the rose bush whispering 'Let me in mother,let me in' I can find no reference to this story. Wouldlove to see this again or read the original.

I have read most of them , Legend Of The Shadow Warriors was the first one I ever read and then i would go to a secondhand book shop to look for others. Starship Traveller was unusual in that its set in space, landing on various planets encountering aliens etc I did own all 3 Cretan Chronicles but never completed the third as the beginning made no sense , it might be a plot hole or i missed out something from the second one.

Very enjoyable and sent me down many a rabbit hole! I do think you're awfully hard on Mark Gatiss though 😅

Great choices Michael. I have the box sets for a few of these sitcoms and I never get tired of watching them. Dad's Army is also a personal favourite, wonderful character actors.

Great TV in the 1970's 👍

Loves the MR James ghost stories especially oh whistle....😊