Film Review: The Prince of Nothingwood
Whilst most of the world has heard of Hollywood, and to a lesser extent Bollywood, there are hundreds, if not thousands, of cinema industries around the world. Some are highly colourful, such as the Turkish copy-cat film industry, which had a small but devoted fanbase. The love of cinema is something shared by people from …
Incoming: Mountain
Willem Dafoe narrates the cinematically stunning exploration of our modern fascination with mountains set to music by one of the greatest chamber orchestras in the world. Mountain is in cinemas and On Demand from 15 December.
Blu-Ray Review: The Cremator
For a species which specialises in horrendous acts of depravity, the lowest point (so far) in human history was unquestionably The Holocaust. The true horror has been documented many times in literature and on the big screen. This has been done in many ways, most famously on film by Steven Spielberg in Schindler’s List. However, …
Incoming: Brisby Bear
Superfan James is obsessed with the clever if quaintly goofy kids’ show Brigsby Bear to the point of religiosity. A bright, sensitive young adult still living at home, he has grown up with this fantasy series, and the program has grown with him as well — getting more complex over the years. But to say …
Blu-Ray Review: Melville – The Essential Collection
It’s no exaggeration to say that the French aren’t exactly short of great film directors. Bresson, Godard, Clouzot, Truffaut, Varda, Tati, Chabrol, Rohmer, Demy – the list goes on and on. Jean-Pierre Melville is easily up there with such vaunted company. Much of his work was influenced by his time serving in the French Resistance …
Blu-Ray Review: Carrie
There must be very few authors who have had more of their work adapted for film and TV than Stephen King. I can only think of William Shakespeare, Charles Dickens, and of course God. Indeed, 2017 has been a bumper year for him. Along with the stylish new version of It, there’s also been films …
Incoming: A Matter of Life and Death
Come in, Lancaster! Powell and Pressburger’s A Matter of Life and Death returns to cinemas from 8 December, screening from a heavenly new 4K restoration. Fantastical and romantic, A Matter of Life and Death stars David Niven as an RAF pilot who must appeal to a celestial court after accidentally being allowed to evade death …
Blu-Ray Review: House
The Vietnam War was a nightmarish experience for all involved. Whilst you could write countless books on the horrors endured by the Vietnamese, Cambodians and Laotians, American cinema is more concerned with the impact on the aggressors. Indeed, American soldiers became victims themselves due to the lack of duty of care shown to them by …
Incoming: The Disaster Artist
James Franco transforms the tragicomic true-story of aspiring filmmaker and infamous Hollywood outsider Tommy Wiseau—an artist whose passion was as sincere as his methods were questionable—into a celebration of friendship, artistic expression, and dreams pursued against insurmountable odds. Based on Greg Sestero’s best-selling tell-all about the making of Tommy’s cult-classic “disasterpiece” The Room (“The Greatest …
Film Review: Beyond Skyline
The large majority of sequels tend to be pale imitations of the original. Sometimes, they equal it in terms of accomplishment without managing to really explore any new ground (John Wick, Guardians of the Galaxy). Others, such as Starship Troopers, Tremors and From Dusk Till Dawn, are just cheap knock-offs in a thinly-veiled attempt to …