Thanks Susan. Well, the voice in the poem is not me, though I share some of its gripes. I do love film noir and can’t stand, for many reasons, the modern rash of superhero films, despite being a big comic-book fan as a child. And I’ve sat through a few with my son in the last few years (thankfully he’s past that phase). But I loved, and still like, the first couple of Superman movies from the 70s (RIP Gene Hackman btw). And I definitely have no problem with long movies if they have earned it.

Thanks David. Yes, the title is referencing that phenomenon. My dad would always tell me this about going to the pictures in the 40s and 50s and I would never quite believe him haha. I think it was also due to the cinema being much cheaper, even adjusted for inflation. People would go in just to get out of the rain (so he told me)

Hi Matt. Why would you assume a grumpy old man wouldn’t be speaking aloud in the cinema? :)

Im glad you enjoyed the voice. There are two voices: one in plain text and one in italics. I’ve taken Clive’s suggestion of putting the prominent voice in speech marks to make this clearer. I wanted to perhaps suggest that the “you” in “you're cradled in my arms” is the old man speaker being cradled in the younger speaker’s arms. After all, he complains of being tired in the closing lines.

I really thought RKO was well-known enough as the movie studio. I watched a lot of old films as a child with my dad. When I saw the RKO logo I knew I was usually in for King Kong, The Hunchback of Notre Dame or Cat People. Their noirs came later, when I was in my 20s. I didn’t know it was a wrestling move. I’ve changed line 4 to reference that famous logo.

Thanks Clive. I’ve taken a lot of your punctuation suggestions, including the speech-marks, but I’ve kept some of the separation in the poem’s layout. My dad is certainly in the background of the poem, though it’s not really him as it is in other poems. The title is from him, as I was telling David. He was a movie fan, but a very open one. He happily watched 70s and 80s films with me when I was young, Spielberg and cheesy disaster films. I definitely never watched any modern Marvel movies with him, so the poem is a fiction, really. It actually started as a very jokey, and much more sweary, poem after I read about Martin Scorsese getting grumpy about Marvel movies, and gained some degree of poignancy (hopefully) in rewrites.

Hi Yves,

Yes, point taken that such a casual voice is in danger of sounding insubstantial and throwaway. It’s a balance, and the poem might not quite make it.

Hi Jim,

Thanks for the kind words. Well, I’m not trying to mock the grumpy old man, no. It isn’t a satire. I feel for him and I’m just trying to inhabit him for a few lines. I’m sure I’m right about RKO. MGM is musicals and high-gloss! And I just can’t stand certain things about modern style. I hate de-aging technology. I could barely get through The Irishman because of it (not because of the length). And think of all those poor stuntmen put out of work by CGI!


Thanks Nemo. Your crit is a joy to read, and not just because you liked the poem, but in terms of your understanding of the context. In fact your headline quote on the poem is a fairly restrained “It’s quite good” which made me smile. I don’t think the poem merits more effusiveness than that, so thanks. But you really got what I was aiming for so that was gratifying.

Jim. lol. Also, nothing wrong with a good zombie film.

Thanks for the kind words, Alex. I think I'm OK with the ending not being "The End". It’s good to hear your voice.

Well, cheers all. It’s nice to be back.

I’ve made a couple of changes. Mainly punctuation based but L4 has had a rewrite.