Film Review: Francofonia
Aleksandr Sokurov is probably best known for his one-shot documentary/cinematic love letter to The Hermitage Museum, Russian Ark. However, he’s spent much of his directorial career working in narrative fiction. His chief focus has been on people. Almost all his work, including The Sun, Alexandra and The Second Circle, are studies of relationships. In his …
Incoming: Richard Linklater: Dream is Destiny
Highlighting one of the most innovative American directors, this film reveals the path traveled by the auteur from his small-town Texas roots to his warm reception on the awards circuit. Long before he directed Boyhood, Richard Linklater’s intense desire to create fueled his work outside the Hollywood system. Rather than leave Texas, he chose to …
Blu-ray Review: La Grande Vadrouille
It’s fair to say that the Colonial European powers have a long and bloody history of not getting along. Since World War II, this has mainly manifested itself in political bickering. However, there no shortage of gentle ribbing, to all out abuse, in European film and TV fare. From ‘Allo, ‘Allo! to Luc Besson’s Taxi! …
Celluloid Screams Review: Antibirth
Women have traditionally fared badly in horror films. Staying alive is one thing, but if they manage to keep their clothes on for the duration, it’s a minor miracle. Not to mention being hacked, slashed and tortured, often simply for the pleasure of the audience. You’ll find no lady-like behaviour on show in In Danny …
Film Review: Rupture
As a sub-genre, captivity horror is one which lends itself to low budgets and sinks or swims based on the script and acting. Unfortunately, all too often directors rely on exploitation and body horror to provide thrills (Hostel anyone?). However, films such as the SAW and Cube series demonstrate what can be achieved with a …
Incoming: Nocturnal Animals
From writer/director Tom Ford comes a haunting romantic thriller of shocking intimacy and gripping tension that explores the thin lines between love and cruelty, and revenge and redemption. Academy Award nominees Amy Adams and Jake Gyllenhaal star as a divorced couple discovering dark truths about each other and themselves in Nocturnal Animals. Nocturnal Animals is …
Blu-ray Review: Kes (Masters of Cinema)
Along with Mike Leigh, Ken Loach has been the forerunner in British cinema in terms of documenting prevailing social issues and gritty ‘kitchen sink’ realism. His latest film, I, Daniel Blake, won the Palme d’Or at Cannes and is generating fevered social and political commentary about the benefits system. However, his best films are more …
Blu-Ray Review: Attack of the Lederhosen Zombies
Traditionally, mixing horror and comedy has proven to be thwart with peril. There were few directors who could pull it off, but Peter Jackson (Braindead/Bad Taste) and Sam Raimi (Evil Dead trilogy) were notable exceptions. Of late, the likes of What We Do in the Shadows, Tucker and Dale vs Evil, Housebound and Dead Snow …
Incoming: The Light Between Oceans
The Light Between Oceans, an international best-seller, takes place on a remote Australian island in the years following World War I, where a lighthouse keeper and his wife are faced with a moral dilemma when a boat washes ashore with a dead man and a two-month-old infant. When they decide to raise the child as …
DVD Review: Fuga
There’s a good chance, come February, that Pablo Larraín will be collecting his first Academy Award. The Chilean director has previously been nominated in the Best Foreign Language Film category for No. Next time out he’s likely to have two films in the mix, both biographies. Neruda is Chile’s selection for the gong, whilst his …