Classic Cinema
Blu-Ray Review: Paths of Glory
If there was ever a quintisential anti-war film, it would be Paths of Glory. Stanley Kubrick doesn’t leave much to the imagination, deciding to faithfully adapt Humphrey Cobb’s novel of the same name. Based on a true story of four French soldiers during World War I who were executed as an example to the rest …
DVD Review: The Glass Key
Dashiell Hammett was a prolific writer of hard-boiled crime fiction in the 1920s and ’30s. His most famous creation was undoubtedly Sam Spade, famously portrayed by Humphrey Bogart in The Maltese Falcon. However, many of his works were adapted for film and television. Stuart Heisler brought Hammett’s favourite of his own works, The Glass Key, …
DVD Review: The Samurai Trilogy (Criterion Collection)
Japan has a rich history and reputation for being one of the most significant, diverse and thought-provoking countries when it comes to cinema. In terms of film-making, the socio-economic climate and political landscape are never far away. The 1950s were undoubtedly the golden era, with the films of Yasujiro Ozu, Akira Kurosawa and Masaki Kobayashi …
DVD Review: A Kind of Loving
Up until the late 1950s ‘serious’ British cinema was solely the preserve of the middle and upper classes. The only time working-class directors got a look-in was for comic relief. That all changed with the advent of the kitchen sink drama which became the primary British cinematic voice for the best part of a decade. …