DVD/Blu-Ray Review
Blu-ray Review: Mulholland Drive
With all the excitement around season 3 of Twin Peaks, along with the recent statement from David Lynch that he will not be making any more films, there’s no better time to re-watch Mulholland Drive. Interestingly, when Mulholland Drive was originally released, the opposite was the case. A frustrated director jumping ship from TV to …
Blu-Ray Review: FILM NOTFILM
Samuel Beckett is without doubt one of the most influential writers of the twentieth century. Renowned for his bleak outlook on human existence, his greatest legacy is Waiting for Godot. A champion of the absurd, the Nobel Prize winner left his mark on both the English and French languages. However, Beckett only ventured into filmmaking …
Blu-ray Review: The Entity
The 1980s proved to be the defining decade for horror movies. It was also responsible for producing some of the most memorable characters and franchises in cinematic history. The beginning of the decade saw a particular focus on the paranormal. One of the most popular films of the time was Poltergeist. Sidney J. Furie’s The …
DVD Review: Blackbird
There’s always been a strong drive in British film making around communities and traditions. This most-frequently revolves around the loss of jobs and traditional industries. However, films such as Brassed Off also highlight that there is much more at stake than merely socio-economic considerations. In Jamie Chambers’ Blackbird, a small Scottish village not only provides …
Blu-Ray Review: My Life as a Dog
Lasse Hallström had a rather unusual path into the world of film. Albeit, being responsible for directing almost every ABBA video isn’t something to sniff at. Today, he’s famous for films such as Cider House Rules, Chocolat and What’s Eating Gilbert Grape. However, he cut his teeth in Swedish cinema. Hallström seems to have an …
Blu-Ray Review: Phenomena
Dario Argento describes Phenomena as his favourite film. Free from the usual restraining elements of family or collaborators, he allows his imagination and inventiveness to run riot. Whilst this makes for a much more surreal and innovative experience, it’s fair to say that it’s not one of his most cohesive or coherent films he’s made. …
Blu-Ray Review: Brain Damage
Frank Henenlotter is a name you may not be familiar with unless you’re a devotee of horror cinema. However, for genre fans he’s an extremely popular figure; still regularly attending film festivals. Undoubtedly best-known for Basket Case, its sequels, and Frankenhooker, Henenlotter considers himself to be a purveyor of exploitation cinema. However, as Brain Damage …
Blu-Ray Review: Tampopo (Criterion Collection)
The Japanese have a very special relationship with food. Often bathed in tradition and ceremony, food and drink are oft en as much about spirituality or religion than fulfilling a natural function. And as Naomi Kawase’s Sweat Bean (An) adeptly demonstrated last year, for the chef the pursuit of perfection is almost as important as …
Blu-Ray Review: Hard Times
James Coburn and Charles Bronson are two of the most iconic faces of American post-war cinema. Both made their names in action films, but by 1975 Coburn was in the twilight of their career whilst Bronson still had some of his most profitable years ahead of him. Walter Hill’s directorial debut, Hard Times, was not …
DVD Review: The Goddess
From the beginning of the 1930s until the Japanese invasion in 1937, Chinese cinema saw its first golden age. Based in Shanghai, a multicultural and Western-oriented city, these films often depicted ordinary people, reflecting the left-wing movement in the city. What is unique about this period is that the majority of the leading roles were …