Sundance Film Festival 2021 Preview
Every January in Utah, the Sundance Film Festival comes to town. It’s the largest independent film festival in America and prides itself on screening world premieres and promoting new voices. This year’s line-up is the usual quality mix of US and World narrative and documentary features, experimental and future visions and the best of short …
Film Review: Silence & Darkness
The thought of losing a sense, such as sight or hearing, is a truly terrifying prospect. The inability to fully connect and interact with the world around us, is a scary thought. However, many people with disabilities become adept at adapting and compensating for a loss. It’s a theme which filmmakers have often exploited, with …
Blu-ray Review: Tomorrow I’ll Wake Up and Scald Myself with Tea
One of the more fascinating aspects of the Third Reich was Adolph Hitler’s obsession with scientific progression. Whether that’s is the realm of warfare or the less pleasant areas of genetics. It’s a facet of the Fuhrer’s policy which still features heavily in popular culture, whether that’s in video game series like Wolfenstein or films …
Film Review: 76 Days
Wuhan is a city of 11 million people in the Hubei province of central China. Odds are you probably hadn’t heard of it until late December 2019, when it became the epicentre for global news following the outbreak of a disease which would rapidly morph into a global pandemic. COVID-19 has gone on to take …
Film Review: Quo Vadis, Aida?
The United Nations (UN) was formed after the end of World War II, established on the principles of maintaining international peace and security, mutual cooperation and harmonizing relations across members states. One of the organisation’s most high-profile responsibilities is providing peacekeeping forces in conflict zones around the world. However, it has received criticism for inaction …
Film Review: Psycho Goreman
One of the major complaints about mainstream genre cinema is that much of it is highly derivative and annoyingly unoriginal. It often seems like there’s frighteningly little innovation or imagination involved. Independent horror is another beast entirely. There are so many creative and brilliant people working within the industry but none are quite as distinctive …
Blu-Ray Review: Investigation of a Citizen Above Suspicion
Given the rather troubling rise of the far right and a resurgence in support for views espoused by Benito Mussolini, in modern Italy, the country is once again facing a turbulent socio-political period. Of which there have been many. Towards the end of the 1960, and throughout the next decade, there were a spate of …
Blu-Ray Review: JSA – Joint Security Area
Since the end of the Korean War, there has been an (very) uneasy peace between the North and South. Located within the Korean Demilitarized Zone (DMZ), the Joint Security Area was the only place where soldiers from both armed forces directly faced each other. This area was traditionally used for diplomatic events and peace negotiations, …
Blu-Ray Review: The Tin Drum
During the period on either side of the 19th Century, Eastern Europe was a region in constant flux. No country personifies this more than the territory which is classed as modern-day Poland. Whether under partition or occupation by Prussia, Russia, Germany or Austria, a desire for independence and nationalistic movements were repeatedly thwarted. Often by …
Film Review: Daniel
Hostage-taking has played an important role in warfare since time immemorial. Providing an easy way to raise funds quickly, a bargaining chip for any negotiations and a way to guarantee someone’s compliance. It’s still widespread in many places around the world, but the focus is usually on conflict zones. Most recently, Iraq, Afghanistan and Syria. …