DVD Review: Elvis and Nixon
Seeing ‘based on true events’, or something similar, flash-up at the start of a film almost always rings alarm bells for me. This is especially the case with horror films. Facts are often distorted out of all recognition and the story is routinely ‘sexed-up’ or exaggerated out of all proportions. The events in Liza Johnson’s …
Incoming: After Love
After 15 years of living together, Marie (Bérénice Bejo) and Boris (Cédric Kahn) decide to get a divorce – but the separation proves far from simple. Boris can’t afford to move out until the house in which they live with their two daughters has been sold. But while it was Marie who bought the house, …
Blu-Ray Review: The Killing of America
The current political and social climate in the US is pretty scary to say the least. What with the rise of Trump, the killing of unarmed black men and the general prevalence of gun crime, America is a pretty scary place to live. However, this is by no way a new phenomenon. It’s arguable that …
DVD Review: The Library Suicides
In this day and age filmmakers are no longer solely reliant upon the whims of studios or attracting rich benefactors. With new technology making it cheaper than ever to make a film, the way they are funded has changed profoundly over the decades. Managed by Ffilm Cymru Wales, Cinematic is a film fund which produces …
Blu-ray Review: Two Women
War throws up many horrors. World War II and the Holocaust showed the depths that humanity can sink to given the right drivers and propaganda. Much has been made of the atrocities of conflict, whether that be in the prison camps and on the battlefield. The plight of civilians in occupied areas has also been …
Incoming: Queen of Katwe
Queen of Katwe is the colourful true story of a young girl selling corn on the streets of rural Uganda whose world rapidly changes when she is introduced to the game of chess, and, as a result of the support she receives from her family and community, is instilled with the confidence and determination she …
DVD Review: The Man Who Fell to Earth (40th Anniversary Edition)
The death of David Bowie earlier this year brought to an end one of the most iconic and celebrated musical careers of the last century. A master of re-invention and evolution, Bowie was always on the vanguard, and a champion, of progress. Whilst his acting career wasn’t anywhere near as successful, he always brought a …
Incoming: Sonita
Sonita, a teenager, is a talented rapper and an indomitable force, in spite of all her obstacles she confronts in Iran and her conservative family. She is, however, an undocumented Afghan refugee in Tehran, and her family has other plans for her. In this gripping documentary, her dream of living abroad is about to come …
Blu-ray Review: Day For Night
Of all the film directors who have ever lived there’s probably none with a greater love of cinema than François Truffaut. The great French auteur simply lived, breathed and ate film. As one of the greatest directors of the 20th Century and a pioneer of the French New Wave he helped define modern cinema. In …
Blu-Ray Review: Body Double
There are very few American directors still working in Hollywood today who are held in the same reverence and regard as Brian De Palma. He first emerged in the American New Wave, along with the likes of Spielberg, Lucas and Coppola, but his career has had a very singular trajectory. Films such as Scarface, Carrie, …