The Haughty Culturist - The thinking person's guide to books, films & pop culture

Latest

Legs and Nike shoes just visible as a basketball player leaps for a shot

Air (2023): big business, bare Jordan | Review

21 May 2023

An up-and-coming underdog defies the rules and changes history. No, not Michael Jordan, silly: Nike

Low-angle shot of a spiral circle creating concentric circles of vivid blue against a deep black background.

Her (2013): AI and the puzzle of beautiful, handwritten letters

16 May 2023

A woman's thigh wearing fishnet stockings. We can just see the top of her skirt. The image has a strange mustard hue.

Peeping Tom (1960) explained: sex, death and sinister cinema

7 May 2023

Abstract close-up of darkened leaves on a red background.

Children of Men (2006): dystopia or disaster movie?

23 April 2023

FEATURED

Stylised image of the Statue of Liberty shrouded in icy clouds.

Film

The Day After Tomorrow (2004) explained: when hell freezes over

Film

Rear Window, Copycat and the art of the housebound detective

Film

The Woman in the Window (2021) explained: the Hitchcock connection

The mouth of a volcano filled with bright orange magma - it resembles an eye.

Film

Boiling point: 10 films about summer extremes

Book reviews

How To Be Right … in a world gone wrong, by James O’Brien

A young black woman holding a handful of sparkling lights.

Film

Don’t Let Go (2019) explained: reincarnation on the streets of L.A.

Film

Does cinema push positive male role models out of the picture?

Film

The Conversation (1974) and the art of betrayal

Part of a photographic film reel showing a dimly lit underground room, like a garage.

Film

Fight Club (1999) explained: vandals with dirty faces

Film

Gattaca (1997) explained: luck, ladders and the long con

Film

What Lies Beneath (2000): return of the repressed

Book reviews

Why Neanderthals don’t make good politicians