Arrow Academy
Blu-Ray Review: Phantom Lady
Robert Siodmak was just one of many film directors and actors who fled to America to escape the tyranny of Hitler’s Germany. This migration included such eminent figures as Ernst Lubitsch, Billy Wilder, Fritz Lang, Peter Lorre, Hedy Lamarr, Max Ophuls and Marlene Dietrich. Siodmak’s first decade in Hollywood produced some impressive results, most notably …
Blu-Ray Review: My Name is Julia Ross
For almost two decades, between the beginning of the 1940s and the end of the 1950s, film noir played an integral role in Hollywood’s output. It was a genre which contained a raft of familiar tropes, most notably the femme fatale and the hardened gumshoe. It wasn’t always strong on originality; one success could rapidly …
Blu-Ray Review: Bob & Carol & Ted & Alice
The end of World War II marked the start of a boom time for the United States of America. In the period leading up to the 1960s the country saw a phenomenal amount of economic growth. Whilst the standard of living rocketed, a culture of conservatism and traditional values still prevailed. It was a decade …
Blu-Ray Review: The Serpent’s Egg
Although his star has been on the wane over the past couple of decades, Ingmar Bergman is without doubt one of the most important film-makers who has ever lived. The late Swede’s fall from grace is probably due more to incessant relationships with his actresses than any diminishing of his films. That said, it’s true …
Blu-Ray Review: Bloody Spear at Mount Fuji
Whilst the country found itself in a deep depression after defeat in World War II and subsequent occupation, the 1950s is considered to be the golden age of Japanese cinema. Three of the greatest films of all time (Rashomon and Seven Samurai – Akira Kurosawa and Tokyo Story – Yasujirō Ozu) were released that decade, …
Blu-Ray Review: Woman is the Future of Man, Tale of Cinema: Two Films by Hong Sangsoo
Since Shiri caused a box office sensation during the dying embers of the last century, the South Korean film industry has had a new lease of life. Whilst stylish thrillers, comedies and horrors have dominated much of the domestic market, there are a group of directors whose style, vision and audacity have caused ripples across …
Blu-Ray Review: Dark River
For many years, the British film industry has rightly been accused of being London-centric; often dominated by gritty urban dramas, dire comedies or ridiculous ‘mockney’ gangster films. Thankfully, there’s been a noticeable shift over the last few years. Introducing more variety of locations and diversity of stories. Clio Barnard has championed Yorkshire. Her first film, …
Blu-Ray Review: Smash Palace
I really don’t understand it myself, but there are lots of men (and a few women) who have a strange obsession with motor cars. What’s even more perverse is that they aren’t just content with driving/dreaming of driving their dream car, they also enjoy watching other people do it. Bizarrely, it’s even called a sport. …
Blu-Ray Review: Irma Vep
France has one of the most vital, innovative and creative film industries in the world. At times during the last century, the French have led whilst the rest of us have simply attempted to follow. However, there have also been a few barren spells. The 1990s was a particularly lean period, punctuated by a few …
Blu-Ray Review: Henri-Georges Clouzot’s Inferno
The history of cinema is littered with those ‘what if?’ moments. The biggest shock of this decade so far is Terry Gilliam finally finishing The Man Who Killed Don Quixote (or maybe the fact someonone was prepared to give him the money to do so). Sadly, Tim Burton and Nicolas Cage’s Superman Lives will never …