DVD/Blu-Ray Review
Blu-Ray Review: Pilgrimage
With the Edict of Milan in 313, which guaranteed the freedom of religion across the Roman Empire, Christianity spread north and west across Europe. Indeed, it tended to mirror the progress of the Romans and meet with the same difficulties. War and strife were endemic across Europe. Ireland, perched on the edge of the empire, …
Blu-Ray Review: The Sorrow and the Pity
With the passing of each year it feels like our collective knowledge of the events of World War II dissipates. Whilst understanding of the major events will always be there, it’s the minutiae which is often where we can learn the greatest lessons. Take France. Split geographically between the Occupied zone in the North and …
Blu-Ray Review: The Amityville Horror
The most famous house in the history of horror film-making is undoubtedly 112 Ocean Avenue, Long Island, New York. The publication of The Amityville Horror by Jay Anson in 1977, the true story of George and Kathy Lutz, brought infamy and media attention to the neighbourhood. This only increased with the release of Stuart Rosenberg’s …
Blu-Ray Review: Daughters of the Dust
Tales of the future and the past, of traditions and progress, have long fascinated film-makers. In America, much of Afro-Caribbean culture and history stems from slavery. Cinema has focussed mainly on this period. However, there’s so much more which often gets left uncovered. African traditions were carried by boat to the New World. In isolated …
Blu-Ray Review: Death in the Garden (Masters of Cinema)
Luis Buñuel is arguably the most influential and innovative Spanish director ever to work in cinema. The father of surrealism, he made films in France, Spain, Mexico and the USA. Working with Salvador Dali, he released his first short (Un Chien Andalou) in 1929. His last feature was That Obscure Object of Desire in 1977. …
Blu-Ray Review: The Fisher King (Criterion Collection)
As a society, we finally seem to be starting to have long overdue conversations about mental health. However, the stigma still remains. Tragically, this has all come too late for Robin Williams. The actor, who had struggled with mental health for decades, seems to have finally been bested by dementia. In The Fisher King, writer …
Blu-Ray Review: Bakumatsu Taiyō-Den
Today, there appears to be an increasing desire to rekindle some kind of mythical Golden Age. Nostalgia has risen as a way of combatting the depressing times we’re living in. It’s not a new phenomenon though. Indeed, man has seemingly been striving for something better for centuries. During the 1950s, Japan society despaired at their …
Blu-Ray Review: The Murderer Lives at Number 21
Whilst Henri-Georges Clouzot may have built up a reputation of being difficult to work with and temperamental, there’s no denying the quality of his films. With The Wages of Fear and Les Diaboliques, he made two of the best films of the 1950s. His speciality was thrillers. However, his first film, The Murderer Lives at …
Blu-Ray Review: One-Eyed Jacks
Marlon Brando was one of a kind. As an actor, no one else possessed the talent, charisma and sheer presence of the man. Along with James Dean and Montgomery Clift, he made up a posse of 1950s American actors who exuded a mix of sensitivity and raw violent emotion. His performances in On the Waterfront, …
Blu-Ray Review: Resident Evil: The Final Chapter
Let’s just say that film adaptations of video games tend to end up being huge disappointments. So, when the first Resident Evil film came out in 2002, expectations were low. However, it turned out to be an engaging and entertaining action film. This was largely down to a great central performance from Milo Jovovich and …