DVD/Blu-Ray Review
Blu-Ray Review: The Cat And The Canary/The Ghost Breakers
If you’re from a certain generation, Bob Hope was arguably the most quintessential American comedian. He made over fifty films in a career which spanned a number of mediums. Probably best known for his collaboration with Bing Crosby in the ‘Road’ films, he was an ever present in the entertainment industry for decades. His major …
Blu-Ray Review: The Driver
It takes a great deal of planning and coordination to pull-off the perfect heist. You need to do your research, without looking suspicious. Know your target inside out. Then, you need to assemble a team of reliable and trustworthy criminals who all have their own individual skillset. Each member will play their part in doing …
Blu-Ray Review: The Infernal Affairs Trilogy
While Hong Kong is geographically small, it has always punched well above its weight. It became one of the biggest financial centres in the world. Space is at a premium and it can feel like they built upwards towards the stars; which can be a dizzying experience. Its status has sadly changed since the Chinese …
Blu-Ray Review – Robin Hood: Prince of Thieves
Many white Americans seem obsessed with tracing their genealogies back through Europe. Indeed, a visit to Scotland isn’t complete without bumping in to at least one person from the ‘new world’ who is searching for their ancestral home. While history is perennially popular, so are myths and legends. The likes of Kind Arthur and Robin …
Blu-ray Review: The Trial
There are probably no other American directors who can hold a candle to Orson Welles when it comes to being an enigma. The larger-than-life figure left a huge mark on cinema. He was a genius who had a habit of starting a project and then getting distracted. Or running out of money. Then again, when …
Blu-Ray Review: The Teckman Mystery
Today, while women still struggle to experience a level playing with men when it comes to filmmaking, it was rare to see anyone but a white man behind the camera in post-war Britain. Indeed, along with Muriel Box, Wendy Toye was one of the only pioneering female directors during the 1950s and 1960s. She started …
Blu-Ray Review: The Draughtsman’s Contract
Of all the British directors of the last 50 years, Peter Greenaway is arguably the most interesting. A painter by training, he brought this art into every inch of his filmmaking. Every shot feels meticulously composed. Celluloid is his canvas. Using landscape and portrait to ensure that each scene is impeccably constructed. Using nature as …
Blu-Ray Review: Reservoir Dogs
When Quentin Tarantino released Reservoir Dogs in 1992, it had a huge impact on Hollywood. The early 1990s were a time of change. A scrappy, almost risqué, period, when a DIY ethos and ‘pulp fiction’ were enjoying a renaissance. He would go on to have a profound influence on a generation of filmmakers. A voracious …
Blu-Ray Review: Audrey Rose
The question of what happens to us when we die has taxed the human psyche since the days of early man. The innate need for something more, something better, than this mortal coil has driven us towards religion. The carrot of paradise for ‘being good’ or the stick of eternal damnation for ‘being bad’ is …
Blu-Ray Review: The Sleeping Tiger
Nurture of nature? One of the oldest debates in the book. Are we fated to live out the lives our genes afford us, or is our upbringing instrumental in making us the person we will become? For those who are proponents of the latter, childhood is the most important stage of development. It’s in these …