Film
Fantasia Festival 2019 Review: The Incredible Shrinking Wknd
We live in a world where events move so quickly. On a daily basis, we’re assailed from all sides by information and news from around the world. It can become a laborious task to try and sift through all the static. It’s often difficult to find time to stop, take stock and remember what’s important …
Fantasia Festival 2019 Review: The Prey
Today’s action movies are full of CGI, unnecessary high moral concepts and diversity quotas. It’s not like the good old days when they were created as vehicles to showcase the skills and charisma of the likes of Arnie, Sly, Jackie Chan or Jean-Claude Van Damme. Jimmy Henderson has an appreciation for old school action films …
Fantasia Festival 2019 Review: 8
South Africa isn’t a country which you’d naturally associate with cinema but it has produced some of the best contemporary African films over the years. The likes of The Wound, Tsotsi, Five Fingers for Marseilles and District 9 showcased the talent which is on offer. Like much of the continent, the indigenous peoples of its …
Fantasia Festival 2019 Review: Ode to Nothing
You need to be a very special character to work in a funeral home or mortuary. Someone who is comfortable with blood, bodily fluids and being surrounded by cadavers. It could be seen as a perfect job if you’re socially awkward or uncomfortable surrounded by people! Unsurprisingly, it has proved to be a popular location …
Fantasia Festival 2019 Review: Knives and Skin
The mainstream film industry seems obsessed with re-visiting the past and almost incapable of trying something new. Something a bit different. Endless sequels and remakes. Re-hashes of the same old plot. The same worn out formula. Studios are allergic to risk. Unwilling to back a strong new voice for fear of losing money. Audiences, sheltered …
DVD Review: The Isle
Britain, like most countries which have a border with the sea, is surrounded by small (often remote) islands. Many of these are either uninhabited or populated by sparse communities which are often extremely close and inward-facing. Whilst these isolated outcrops can be difficult to reach, they provide atmospheric backdrops; full of mysteries and intrigue. Matthew …
Fantasia Festival 2019 Review: Maggie
Along with horror, science fiction and fantasy films often find themselves unfairly maligned. What so many fail to understand is that genre film-making is not just (normally) a case of killer robots, zombies or dark elves. These fantastical scenarios are often used as a way of making a serious point. Wrapping a social issue within …
Fantasia Festival 2019 Review: DreadOut
Whilst it’s hardly an everyday occurrence, it’s not unusual for siblings to make films together. In Asian cinema, Shaw Brothers was at one time a world-famous production company whilst more recently Oxide and Danny Pang have had hits with Bangkok Dangerous and the Eye films. Whilst the Mo brothers’ greatest success so far has been …
Blu-Ray Review: Hedwig and the Angry Inch
The current vogue with Hollywood studios seems to be music films, whether they are biopics or films based around a famous artist or band. In the last year we’ve been ‘treated to’ Bohemian Rhapsody, Rocketman, Yesterday and Blinded by the Light. All huge box office smashes which seemed to resonate with people of a certain …
Blu-Ray Review: A Tree Grows in Brooklyn
There are very few, if any, directors who have worked in Hollywood with a record of success equal to or better than Elia Kazan. The émigré had a reputation of getting the best out of his actors. In a career spanning only nineteen films he was rewarded with five Academy Award nominations, as well as …