John Hodson
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John Hodson
@mgcroadster.bsky.social
Journalist since '73, now retired, film geek for longer. Rejoiner, lefty, love films of all eras. Recovering Man Utd. fan of six decades. Uses admiration of John Ford as a Rorschach test. No followers without a profile - sorry!
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If you can, please support this; from his early teenage years, our late son James did what he could to support Manchester's homeless, whether it was a gift, food, or simply a kind word. It's a charity that means a lot to us & we give every year...
Done all your Christmas shopping but still have that one person left to buy for?
Gift a Bed! 🎁

For £32, you can provide a night of much needed rest for someone who would otherwise have nowhere safe to sleep.

Save the stress and gift a bed today.

www.gmmayorscharity.org.uk/gift/p/gift-...
Reposted by John Hodson
#filmsky #moviesky #filmnoir #BOTD

He spoke six languages: Ukrainian, Russian, Italian, Spanish, French, and English

Volodymyr Palahniuk, aka Jack Palance
The Big Knife (1955)
February 18, 2026 at 11:40 AM
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Harry H. Corbett - Acting in the Sixties (18th February 1967). Corbett discusses Steptoe & Son.
February 18, 2026 at 2:20 PM
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'It's overwhelming': plastic from 1960s Canada washes up on Orkney beach. www.bbc.co.uk/news/article...
'It's overwhelming': Plastic from 1960s Canada washes up on Orkney's Sanday
One litter picker says he has seen a huge increase in the amount of plastic washing up on Sanday this year.
www.bbc.co.uk
February 18, 2026 at 1:45 PM
This, btw, is excellent and a little known story - go to the link, 'Oh What A Lovely War', then the link 'Read Len Deighton's Own Account of Producing Oh What A Lovely War'

The Deighton Dossier - Films & TV share.google/idbhp4cKTSAo...
February 18, 2026 at 1:45 PM
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This is what I've been doing with my time recently. Can't remember when I last enjoyed helping to compile a festival retrospective programme so much. These films are subversive, outrageous, WTF & bonkers, a full complement of extraordinary horror & sci-fi classics that deserve to be rediscovered.
EXORCISING FRANCO: SPANISH GENRE CINEMA 1968-1983. This is a FANTASTIC restrospective, featuring not just classics like WHO CAN KILL A CHILD?, LIVING DEAD AT MANCHESTER MORGUE, THE HOUSE THAT SCREAMED, CANNIBAL MAN, BLOOD SPATTERED BRIDE, ARREBATO... www.offscreen.be/en/offscreen...
February 18, 2026 at 12:45 PM
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A gentle giant, Tom Noonan was a singular character actor in Manhunter, Heat, Last Action Hero, and Synecdoche, New York, and the writer-director-star (+ more) behind What Happened Was....

An imposing presence with rare depth and intelligence, he will be missed.

RIP, 1951–2026
February 18, 2026 at 10:18 AM
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These two women are suing Andrew Tate, alleging he raped them. Here they visit the social media companies that created Tate. Please share.

*one voice altered to disguise identity
February 18, 2026 at 11:36 AM
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Happy Birthday, Len Deighton!
February 18, 2026 at 11:12 AM
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"Manager Aldgate gown factory" 😘
Officially one the greatest author photos ever , plus bio oh and let's have some love for his book design #LenDeighton
February 18, 2026 at 10:56 AM
#BOTD Len Deighton celebrates his 97th birthday today... time to rewatch The Truth about Len Deighton: www.bbc.co.uk/iplayer/episode/b0074s2q via @bbciplayer
The Truth about Len Deighton
Profile of best-selling author Len Deighton, whose output ranges from the Harry Palmer espionage thrillers to books on military history and cookery. First shown in 2006.
www.bbc.co.uk
February 18, 2026 at 10:58 AM
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Revenue generated by subscribers to The Irish Times is now fully funding its journalism for the first time - ten years after starting subs strategy
pressgazette.co.uk/paywalls/iri...
Irish Times journalism now fully funded by subscribers
Editor interview as revenue generated by subscribers to The Irish Times is now fully funding its journalism for the first time.
pressgazette.co.uk
February 18, 2026 at 10:42 AM
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Sad to hear that Tom Noonan died - he was a fantastic presence on screen and it was always great to see him turn up in a film, never more so than in MANHUNTER, where he is simultaneously absolutely terrifying but also somehow sympathetic as The Tooth Fairy.
www.youtube.com/watch?v=HKPN...
Manhunter (1986) - The Tooth Fairy
YouTube video by Iamthe80sguy2
www.youtube.com
February 18, 2026 at 10:38 AM
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Budd Boetticher's list of the best Westerns of all time:

The Treasure of the Sierra Madre
Red River
The Wild Bunch
Seven Men from Now
High Noon
Shane
Rio Bravo

*from The Variety Book of Movie Lists (1994)
February 18, 2026 at 10:04 AM
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Tom Noonan gives one of my all-time favorite performances in Manhunter, his Francis Dollarhyde is pitch-perfect: somehow both utterly terrifying and heartbreakingly human. I still get chills when I watch this scene -- Noonan and Joan Allen are phenomenal here.
February 18, 2026 at 9:43 AM
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RIP Tom Noonan. Awful news. MANHUNTER is one of my favorite movies, in no small part due to Noonan's incredible performance ("Here I...am"). But if I were to recommend one of his films today it would be WHAT HAPPENED WAS, which he also wrote and directed. It's unnerving and funny and wonderful.
February 18, 2026 at 9:08 AM
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Still a few spaces left for Thursday's performance of "Not Truly Dead" in Bristol.
Three ghost stories by M R James: "Rats", "An Evening's Entertainment" & "The Tractate Middoth."
Tickets here www.tickettailor.com/.../almathea...
February 18, 2026 at 9:36 AM
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One of our favourite #FilmNoir titles (we have many to be honest) is on @talkingpicturestv.bsky.social today at 10:40am!

Scandal Sheet (1952), starring Broderick Crawford, Donna Reedand, John Derek and directed by Phil Karlson.
February 18, 2026 at 8:06 AM
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One of the best films at Berlin this year is the incredibly well-acted, deeply moving QUEEN AT SEA, the new film from Lance Hammer, whose last feature was 2008's indie phenomenon BALLAST (nearly two decades ago).

That said, it's... not an easy watch. www.vulture.com/article/quee...
Well, That Was Upsetting
Queen At Sea is indie darling Lance Hammer’s first film in 18 years.
www.vulture.com
February 18, 2026 at 8:13 AM
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Tom Noonan (1951–2026)
February 18, 2026 at 5:43 AM
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“You used to be big,” Gillis says. Norma responds, “I am big. It’s the pictures that got small.” Billy Wilder’s masterly metatextual satire of Hollywood fame and madness, Sunset Boulevard. #Filmsky My review boxd.it/dbzZ3j
A ★★★★★ review of Sunset Boulevard (1950)
Paramount Region Free 4K Billy Wilder’s superb spiky noir satire about Hollywood’s fickle nature and the merciless price of fame, co-written by Wilder, Charles Brackett and D. M. Marshman Jr., is an e...
boxd.it
February 18, 2026 at 8:37 AM
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Commemorate Trailers From Hell Guru Don Coscarelli’s birthday with these trailer commentaries!

Godzilla
www.youtube.com/watch?v=u-Fm...

The Beast With Five Fingers
www.youtube.com/watch?v=YGDq...

3 Days Of The Condor
www.youtube.com/watch?v=tX6E...
February 17, 2026 at 9:41 PM
What's a line delivery you'll never forget?

#filmsky 📽
February 17, 2026 at 11:02 PM