That’s right. It’s back. Again.

Deriving its name from the book that gave Apocalypse Now its story, Hearts of Darkness is perhaps the world’s best-known “The Making of…” documentary. Narrated by Francis Ford Coppola’s wife, Eleanor, it’s the source for much of the lore about the interminable production of the flamboyant director’s Vietnam War Film to end all Vietnam War Films. Hearts of Darkness follows the 238 day, $20 million shoot, faithfully recording its legendary mishaps: from replacing its original lead (Harvey Keitel) two weeks in, through sets destroyed by monsoon rains and helicopters borrowed from the Filipino army recalled to fight rebels in the middle of filming; to the nightly, frenzied script re-writes. All these fed a media storm back home, so that it was probably no wonder Kramer vs Kramer won the Oscar for Best Picture – everyone must have been sick of hearing about the Apocalypse out East. All said, this 90 minutes of self-indulgence makes it a cinephile favourite.

Hearts of Darkness is available to buy on DVD from Monday 9 January. (It’s also part of the Apocalypse Now Blu-Ray box set released back in May.)


Read more: Apocalypse Now Blu-Ray Review.

Oh, hello. How are you?

I know the walls of Uncultured Critic have been a little bare this festive season. Things got a little crazy between graduating from my MLitt (in Film Journalism, no less); getting married and, well, the holiday movie slow-down.

So here’s an update…
My Top 10 of the Year ambivalence shows no signs of stopping, but some of the films I particularly enjoyed this year include Drive, Source Code, Another Earth, and Bridesmaids.

After setting myself the 52 Book Challenge (up from 50 in previous years), I failed spectacularly but managed a respectable 42. Of which my favourites were The Marriage Plot by Jeffrey Eugenides, The Lover’s Dictionary by David Levithan, and The Hunger Games trilogy by Suzanne Collins. For Christmas I received F. Scott Fitzgerald collection The Crack-Up and Susan Orlean’s Rin Tin Tin: The Life and Legend – both of which I’m looking forward to reading and reviewing.

If you’re interested in catching up on my work outside of Uncultured Critic…
Three books I contributed to as part of the World Film Locations series are now available to purchase: London, Los Angeles, and Dublin. I’m currently editing the Glasgow volume, which will be in print by the end of the year!

The BBC Movie Café is now available to download as a podcast — and I urge you to do so. I’ll be back on later this month with more reviews.

The Skinny got a lovely redesign this year – most of my reviews are reposted here, but there’s loads more from my colleagues over there, too.

The Big Picture Magazine is also on the verge of a rebirth, but until then you can download the latest issue here, which includes an essay I wrote about the cinema of John Hughes.

How about you?
How have you enjoyed your year in film, books, and beyond? Is there anything you’d like to see on Uncultured Critic in the New Year? Give me a shout in the comments, on Twitter, or shoot me an email.

But before you go…
Check out the best of Cinema 2011:

Read more: Rich Hall’s Continental Drifters; Inside the New York Times with Andrew Rossi