James Dalrymple
@jamesewand.bsky.social
Teaching/lecturing in France. Occasional academic.
Cinema, books, music, vintage television, podcasts (usually while cooking for the family), teaching, life in France etc.
Film reviews at: letterboxd.com/jamesewand/
Cinema, books, music, vintage television, podcasts (usually while cooking for the family), teaching, life in France etc.
Film reviews at: letterboxd.com/jamesewand/
I woke up at 5am for nothing as all trains to Valence this morning were cancelled, which of course I only found out when I got to the station. Staying in my pyjamas all day today in protest. That'll teach the SNCF
January 29, 2026 at 11:39 AM
I woke up at 5am for nothing as all trains to Valence this morning were cancelled, which of course I only found out when I got to the station. Staying in my pyjamas all day today in protest. That'll teach the SNCF
Reposted by James Dalrymple
Both on Channel 4 at the moment if you need some unhinged James Stewart in your life. I do.
Tonight's viewing - this absolutely stellar double-bill of James Stewart-on-the-vengeance-trail Anthony Mann Westerns.
January 28, 2026 at 10:53 PM
Both on Channel 4 at the moment if you need some unhinged James Stewart in your life. I do.
Reposted by James Dalrymple
My brief thoughts on the quite brilliant SMILEY'S PEOPLE on Letterboxd
boxd.it/cSbtj1
boxd.it/cSbtj1
A ★★★★★ review of Smiley's People (1982)
Saul Enderby: "It isn’t some Russian plot to lure us to our destruction is it George?" George Smiley: "I’m afraid we’re no longer worth the candle…" Utterly sublime; writing, pacing, acting, direction...
boxd.it
January 28, 2026 at 4:15 PM
My brief thoughts on the quite brilliant SMILEY'S PEOPLE on Letterboxd
boxd.it/cSbtj1
boxd.it/cSbtj1
Reposted by James Dalrymple
Pretty much a full house for today’s Seniors’ screening of NOUVELLE VAGUE, Richard Linklater’s beautiful love letter to Godard’s À BOUT DE SOUFFLE / BREATHLESS.
My second watch, but I was in town for something else, so why not! #FlimSky
My second watch, but I was in town for something else, so why not! #FlimSky
January 28, 2026 at 5:29 PM
Pretty much a full house for today’s Seniors’ screening of NOUVELLE VAGUE, Richard Linklater’s beautiful love letter to Godard’s À BOUT DE SOUFFLE / BREATHLESS.
My second watch, but I was in town for something else, so why not! #FlimSky
My second watch, but I was in town for something else, so why not! #FlimSky
Reposted by James Dalrymple
Charles Laughton was not the only great actor of Classic Hollywood to direct a film no one appreciated at the time. Here’s my essay from last year about Peter Lorre’s The Lost One—unique, ill-fated, and now darkly relevant.
open.substack.com/pub/selfstyl...
open.substack.com/pub/selfstyl...
The Lost One's Long Journey
After 75 years, Peter Lorre's sole film as director finds its dark moment at last
open.substack.com
January 27, 2026 at 8:36 PM
Charles Laughton was not the only great actor of Classic Hollywood to direct a film no one appreciated at the time. Here’s my essay from last year about Peter Lorre’s The Lost One—unique, ill-fated, and now darkly relevant.
open.substack.com/pub/selfstyl...
open.substack.com/pub/selfstyl...
Reposted by James Dalrymple
The film adaptation of Kazuo Ishiguro’s A Pale View of Hills boasts a fine central performance from Suzu Hirose as a housewife in postwar Nagasaki, but the elegant time-straddling plotting & prose of the novel feels inert & mannered on the big screen.
January 27, 2026 at 8:51 PM
The film adaptation of Kazuo Ishiguro’s A Pale View of Hills boasts a fine central performance from Suzu Hirose as a housewife in postwar Nagasaki, but the elegant time-straddling plotting & prose of the novel feels inert & mannered on the big screen.
Reposted by James Dalrymple
Penultimate new episode up now. The Sacred and Profane Love Machine by Iris Murdoch, with guest Ian Patterson in Socratic dialogue with @unamccormack.bsky.social Nicky Birch and me. www.backlisted.fm/episodes/256...
256. The Sacred and Profane Love Machine by Iris Murdoch — Backlisted
Ian Patterson, author of Books: A Manifesto (W&N), returns to Backlisted for a joyful discussion of Iris Murdoch and her sixteenth novel The Sacred and Profane Love Machine  ...
www.backlisted.fm
January 27, 2026 at 7:34 AM
Penultimate new episode up now. The Sacred and Profane Love Machine by Iris Murdoch, with guest Ian Patterson in Socratic dialogue with @unamccormack.bsky.social Nicky Birch and me. www.backlisted.fm/episodes/256...
Reposted by James Dalrymple
Fucken Agatha Christie always gets credit for the twist in MURDER OF ROGER ACKROYD as though she didn't nick it entirely from Chekhov's THE SHOOTING PARTY (published in English translation for the first time in the year she published her own book, what a coincidence)
crimereads.com/agatha-chris...
crimereads.com/agatha-chris...
How Agatha Christie Played the “Game-within-the-Game” in ‘The Murder of Roger Ackroyd’
‘A good detective story should be like a good bull-fight. The reader charges up and down distracted by the red herring until exhausted, when the author plunges the unexpected explanation into him l…
crimereads.com
January 28, 2026 at 5:48 AM
Fucken Agatha Christie always gets credit for the twist in MURDER OF ROGER ACKROYD as though she didn't nick it entirely from Chekhov's THE SHOOTING PARTY (published in English translation for the first time in the year she published her own book, what a coincidence)
crimereads.com/agatha-chris...
crimereads.com/agatha-chris...
Reposted by James Dalrymple
@jamesewand.bsky.social is probably the one to chat to about this, but from what I can work out, a section of the channel is accessible to people outside France. The selection of films is fairly small, but they're very well curated.
www.arte.tv/en/videos/ci...
www.arte.tv/en/videos/ci...
ARTE, the European culture TV channel, free and on demand
Magazine shows, concerts, documentaries, and more: the European culture channel's programmes available to stream free of charge on arte.tv.
www.arte.tv
January 27, 2026 at 10:09 AM
@jamesewand.bsky.social is probably the one to chat to about this, but from what I can work out, a section of the channel is accessible to people outside France. The selection of films is fairly small, but they're very well curated.
www.arte.tv/en/videos/ci...
www.arte.tv/en/videos/ci...
Reposted by James Dalrymple
I do wish the Beeb would put more of their restorations up on iPlayer in UHD - currently 'Nuts in May' & 'The Singing Detective' appear to be the only two to have that treatment & they are glorious. More please!
The Singing Detective, 1. Skin: www.bbc.co.uk/iplayer/episode/b0074qxt via @bbciplayer
The Singing Detective, 1. Skin: www.bbc.co.uk/iplayer/episode/b0074qxt via @bbciplayer
The Singing Detective - 1. Skin
Dennis Potter's classic drama serial with music about pulp thriller writer Philip Marlow, in hospital with psoriasis, tormented by his past and threatened by his future.
www.bbc.co.uk
January 27, 2026 at 10:46 AM
I do wish the Beeb would put more of their restorations up on iPlayer in UHD - currently 'Nuts in May' & 'The Singing Detective' appear to be the only two to have that treatment & they are glorious. More please!
The Singing Detective, 1. Skin: www.bbc.co.uk/iplayer/episode/b0074qxt via @bbciplayer
The Singing Detective, 1. Skin: www.bbc.co.uk/iplayer/episode/b0074qxt via @bbciplayer
Reposted by James Dalrymple
GIRL WITH HYACINTHS (Hasse Ekman, 1950).
This was excellent, a bleak investigation into the reasons behind a young woman’s suicide, delving into her backstory and gradually revealing the circumstances that led to her death. It is the woman’s female neighbour who correctly intuits >> (1/2) #FilmSky
This was excellent, a bleak investigation into the reasons behind a young woman’s suicide, delving into her backstory and gradually revealing the circumstances that led to her death. It is the woman’s female neighbour who correctly intuits >> (1/2) #FilmSky
January 24, 2026 at 8:43 PM
GIRL WITH HYACINTHS (Hasse Ekman, 1950).
This was excellent, a bleak investigation into the reasons behind a young woman’s suicide, delving into her backstory and gradually revealing the circumstances that led to her death. It is the woman’s female neighbour who correctly intuits >> (1/2) #FilmSky
This was excellent, a bleak investigation into the reasons behind a young woman’s suicide, delving into her backstory and gradually revealing the circumstances that led to her death. It is the woman’s female neighbour who correctly intuits >> (1/2) #FilmSky
Reposted by James Dalrymple
... the whole series is available to watch now on iPlayer - Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy, Series 1: 1. Return to the Circus: www.bbc.co.uk/iplayer/episode/b0074tdz ...
Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy - Series 1: 1. Return to the Circus
Acclaimed adaptation of John le Carre's novel. When summoned by the cabinet watchdog for intelligence affairs, Smiley agrees to head the hunt for a secret service mole.
www.bbc.co.uk
January 26, 2026 at 9:46 PM
... the whole series is available to watch now on iPlayer - Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy, Series 1: 1. Return to the Circus: www.bbc.co.uk/iplayer/episode/b0074tdz ...
Reposted by James Dalrymple
Who knew 21yo Paul Newman (BOTD 1/26/1925) was such a bad boy? 1946, arrested with friends for drinking & disturbing peace at Kenyon College in Ohio.
Nothing a good spanking couldn't fix!
#filmsky 📽
Nothing a good spanking couldn't fix!
#filmsky 📽
January 26, 2026 at 10:31 PM
Who knew 21yo Paul Newman (BOTD 1/26/1925) was such a bad boy? 1946, arrested with friends for drinking & disturbing peace at Kenyon College in Ohio.
Nothing a good spanking couldn't fix!
#filmsky 📽
Nothing a good spanking couldn't fix!
#filmsky 📽
Reposted by James Dalrymple
First watch: THE LAST TIME I SAW PARIS (1954) A struggling novelist and his supportive wife find their marriage upended after they strike it rich with oil investments and begin to flirt with other love interests, with catastrophic consequences.
1/2
#FilmSky #MovieSky #drama
1/2
#FilmSky #MovieSky #drama
January 27, 2026 at 4:23 AM
Reposted by James Dalrymple
@joiedevivre9.bsky.social @jamesewand.bsky.social Are you aware of these podcasts? Right up your alley, I’d say!
Thoroughly enjoyed listening to these podcast discussions on Yasujirō Ozu’s late work.
This one looks at EARLY SPRING and TOKYO TWILIGHT, but there are others in the series, along with episodes on various films featured in Criterion’s Eclipse box-sets! #FilmSky
podcasts.apple.com/gb/podcast/c...
This one looks at EARLY SPRING and TOKYO TWILIGHT, but there are others in the series, along with episodes on various films featured in Criterion’s Eclipse box-sets! #FilmSky
podcasts.apple.com/gb/podcast/c...
The Eclipse Viewer – Episode 58 – Late Ozu [Part 1]
Podcast Episode · Criterion Cast: The Eclipse Viewer · 01/07/2017 · 1 sec
podcasts.apple.com
January 26, 2026 at 6:43 PM
@joiedevivre9.bsky.social @jamesewand.bsky.social Are you aware of these podcasts? Right up your alley, I’d say!
Reposted by James Dalrymple
If you like 1930s escapism, with all of its soppiness and its wisecracks, you can’t do much better than Trade Winds boxd.it/cQ3U5L
A ★★★★½ review of Trade Winds (1938)
This has probably the strongest Dorothy Parker stamp as on any of her scripts, encompassing alcoholism, suicide, pungent wisecracks and the plain person's patronising jealousy of the pretty, all withi...
boxd.it
January 26, 2026 at 12:46 PM
If you like 1930s escapism, with all of its soppiness and its wisecracks, you can’t do much better than Trade Winds boxd.it/cQ3U5L
First watch: La Rupture (aka The Breach, 1970). Another Claude Chabrol thriller starring Stéphane Audran and a number of other familiar faces from his movies. With hints of early Brian De Palma and Rosemary's Baby, this is pretty sleazy & repellent, and lacking the conciseness of Chabrol's best. 1/2
January 26, 2026 at 12:55 PM
First watch: La Rupture (aka The Breach, 1970). Another Claude Chabrol thriller starring Stéphane Audran and a number of other familiar faces from his movies. With hints of early Brian De Palma and Rosemary's Baby, this is pretty sleazy & repellent, and lacking the conciseness of Chabrol's best. 1/2
Reposted by James Dalrymple
A truly special film and a truly filthy white suit, bested only by Warren Oates in Bring Me The Head Of Alfredo Garcia (L) and Lee Brilleaux in Dr. Feelgood (R). More (good) examples appreciated. Clean white suits in movies not acceptable.
January 25, 2026 at 6:56 PM
A truly special film and a truly filthy white suit, bested only by Warren Oates in Bring Me The Head Of Alfredo Garcia (L) and Lee Brilleaux in Dr. Feelgood (R). More (good) examples appreciated. Clean white suits in movies not acceptable.
Reposted by James Dalrymple
This evening’s film: La Chimera. Something really special, my god. boxd.it/cP63Yb
A ★★★★★ review of La Chimera (2023)
The magic of this film is hard to put into words. Josh O’Connor plays Arthur, an Englishman in Italy who has a strange gift for being able to find hidden tombs, tombs filled with Etruscan treasures th...
boxd.it
January 25, 2026 at 6:28 PM
This evening’s film: La Chimera. Something really special, my god. boxd.it/cP63Yb
Reposted by James Dalrymple
This is excellent. www.bbc.co.uk/sounds/play/...
Sunday Feature - New Music New York - BBC Sounds
Richard King explores the conditions for musical creativity in New York City in the 1970s.
www.bbc.co.uk
January 14, 2026 at 2:26 PM
This is excellent. www.bbc.co.uk/sounds/play/...
augurs well for new Bill Callahan album... "Lonely City"
www.youtube.com/watch?v=8H9o...
www.youtube.com/watch?v=8H9o...
Bill Callahan "Lonely City" (Official Music Video)
YouTube video by Bill Callahan
www.youtube.com
January 25, 2026 at 5:05 PM
augurs well for new Bill Callahan album... "Lonely City"
www.youtube.com/watch?v=8H9o...
www.youtube.com/watch?v=8H9o...
so if anyone asks me how old I am, I shall henceforth answer that I'm "teenage-daughter-has-a-boyfriend" age 😬
January 25, 2026 at 4:55 PM
so if anyone asks me how old I am, I shall henceforth answer that I'm "teenage-daughter-has-a-boyfriend" age 😬
Reposted by James Dalrymple
Resistance is never futile...
January 25, 2026 at 1:11 PM
Resistance is never futile...