Exploring Big Beat Cinema

This week we kick off the first ever No Tags film season! Based on an original idea by DJ and NTS host Finn, Big Beat Cinema is our attempt to identify and decode a much-loved and entirely made-up micro-genre.

We begin by outlining the core canon and basic tropes of BBC, paying particular attention to the ultra-stylish heist movies of the late ‘90s and early ‘00s – think Ocean’s Eleven, Mark Wahlberg’s The Italian Job, Snatch and even The Matrix.

We also try to explain why big beat – the sample-flipping, chart-dominating, Hawaiian shirt-wearing sound of the millennium – became so integral to these movies’ portrayal of cool guys pulling off implausible heists.

From zany editing to Junkie XL, from Paul Oakenfold to the politics of cool, and from Skint Records to the correct shade of denim, this first episode lays out the core principles of BBC.

Let us know what you think in the comments – including on our Letterboxd list, where you can check out the full selection of BBC contenders, from Shallow Grave to Kneecap.