The Dark Horse

Guest Writer, Film Reviewer.

I’m a senior teacher at a private language school in Manchester. Having spent three years in Taiwan and Japan teaching English, I returned back to the UK in 2008 to continue my education and teaching in the north west of England. When not consuming film, I really enjoys watching and participating in sports, especially football, as I’m a big Everton fan. I also love music, where rock (e.g. Pearl Jam, Led Zeppelin, Beck and The War on Drugs) and modern composers (e.g. Cliff Martinez, Thomas Newman, Gustavo Santaollala and Alexandre Desplat) take up much of my aural-pleasuring time.

Cinema has been a big part of my life. When I’m not watching films, I’m reading about films, listening to a variety of film podcasts, listening to film soundtracks or talking about film to friends and family; I eat, sleep, talk and dream about film.

My taste in film, is as wide-ranging as they come, as ever since I was a small lad, I have admired cinema from all walks of life and backgrounds, ranging from classic noirs to westerns, war epics to romances, blood-thirsty to psychological horror, comedies to tragedies, martial arts to action fest, South Korean to French; basically, any film genre. There are too many film directors and actors for me to admire, thus pinpointing particular artists is problematic; however, I’m always seeking out new film makers and stars to inspire and entertain me.

My journey to participating in The Slaughtered Bird began back in 2012 when I serendipitously met Stephen aka -Folklore, one of the founders of the website on jury duty in Liverpool. From day one of participating in a prolonged murder trial, I and Folklore hit it off straight away, as we both showed great admiration and love for all-things cinema and music. Hours, even days, were spent discussing film between the two of us, and thus, a great respected relationship was born. After promising to stay in touch after the trial, this pact was solidified when one day Folklore asked me to contribute to a film-loving project. The rest, as they say is history.