It was a year of new departures for Permanent Plastic Helmet, as we got into the events game.
Our first of three events at London’s Clapham Picturehouse – a 35mm screening of Spike Lee’s classic Do The Right Thing on July 5 – drew a large crowd, who wolfed down the free pizza before falling under the spell of the New Yorker’s incendiary 1989 masterpiece. Incidentally, in case you didn’t know, the blog’s name comes from a line spoken by Samuel L. Jackson’s character Senor Love Daddy in this film.
Oh, and Spike Lee liked the poster so much that he asked for a bunch of copies to be sent to him:
@PPlasticHelmet The Poster Looks Great.Can You Please Send Me 5? My Addrees Is 75 South Elliott Place,Brooklyn,NY 11217 USA. Thanks,Spike
—
Spike Lee (@SpikeLee) June 14, 2012Our second, a super-rare theatrical screening of Michael Rapaport’s documentary Beats Rhymes and Life: The Travels of A Tribe Called Quest on September 27, was a complete sell-out. Before the film (and after the now customary pizza), a patient crowd politely waited for me to carry out one of the most protracted prize raffles in history.
In December, for our third and final screening of 2012, scores of people braved the cold (and presumably turned their backs on Christmas parties) for our 20th anniversary showing of Ron Shelton’s White Men Can’t Jump on December 6. Following an hour of classic 90s hip hop and R&B in the bar, I took a leaf out of Gloria (Rosie Perez)’ book, and ran a ‘things that begin with the letter ‘Q’ quiz. Here’s a nice shot of folks in the bar beforehand:
I’d like to thank the team at Clapham Picturehouse (in particular Clare Binns, Kate Coventry and Dan Hawkins) for being so supportive of the events and super helpful in running them. Thanks to Yves Salmon for photographing the second event. And a massive, massive thank-you also to the outrageously talented Piccia Neri, who was responsible for poster artwork for all the events.
We’re going to continue with our programme of events in 2013, so stay tuned for upcoming announcements. We’ve got some crackers lined up.
* * *
It’s been an interesting year on the blog. I’m delighted that the readership has increased (incidentally, December 2012 has been the best ever month for hits on the blog), but I’ve found myself with less time to work on it, such has been my workload elsewhere this year. (I’ve started freelancing for Sight & Sound, Little White Lies and Grolsch Film Works, among others). I also got married!
Consequently, huge credit must go to the team of contributors, who have furnished the blog with some really intelligent, incisive work over the last twelve months.
These contributors are (each name is hyperlinked to their Twitter account, so you can follow them): Guillaume Gendron, Ed Wall, Cathy Landicho, Basia Lewandowska Cummings, Sophia Satchell-Baeza, Sophie Monks Kaufman, Fintan McDonagh, Dylan Cave, John McKnight, Michael Mand, Joseph Walsh and Tom Cottey.
I’d also like to thank each and each every person who read, recommended, RTd, or Facebook ‘liked’ PPH, or simply stumbled across the blog searching for actual plastic helmets (this happened more than I’d care to admit).
Thanks also to all the distribution companies and PRs who have been kind enough to keep inviting us to screenings and sending us DVDs. Couldn’t do it without ya.
* * *
Finally, here are some things from the blog this year that I’m particularly proud of/enjoyed:
My opinion of Prometheus as expressed through the facial expressions of Eddie Murphy – review
The Expendables 2 – review | Ed Wall
Shame and Gender – feature | Cathy Landicho
Music Video Week – David Wilson – interview
Music Video Week – Sound and Vision: A Potted History of an Artform – feature
Moebius: Human After All – feature | Guillaume Gendron
Ira Sachs – interview
Cyrobra or: The Three Ages of Tormented Man | Sophie Monks Kaufman
In the next year, I hope to streamline and simplify both content and design, and introduce a whole bunch of new contributors and regular features.
Watch this space in 2013
Thank you for reading.
A
Permanent Plastic Helmet 
