Arrow Films
Film Review: Aniara
Earth has only got finite resources and with rapid population growth, climate change and an increasingly unstable political landscape our time on this planet might be limited to decades, not centuries. At some stage, we’re likely to need a new home. One within reach but which can sustain human life, one way or another. When …
Blu-Ray Review: Being John Malkovich
Back in 1998, John Malkovich was considered to be one of those actors who thought a great deal of himself. Unsurprisingly, he started out in theatre, making his Broadway debut alongside Dustin Hoffman in Death of a Salesman. As well as winning an Emmy for the TV adaptation, Malkovich has been nominated for two Oscars …
Blu-Ray Review: Waterworld
Hollywood has a long and infamous tradition of producing big budget blockbusters which bomb at the box office. Two of the most famous examples are Elaine May’s Ishtar which flopped back in 1986 and Michael Cimino’s epic financial disaster Heaven’s Gate which set the standard in 1980. Despite eventually turning a profit, Waterworld has long …
Film Review: Heathers
Whilst you could (reasonably) argue that the best teen movies were produced in the 1990 (Clueless, 10 Things I Hate About You, Scream etc), the most iconic ones definitely appeared the decade before. The 1980s gave the world The Breakfast Club, Stand by Me, Ferris Bueller’s Day Off, Fast Times at Ridgemont High, Dazed and …
Film Review: The Cured
In the old days zombies basically shuffled about slowly and semi-uselessly. Unless you were careless enough to get yourself trapped in a confined space, you’d probably be alright. Somewhere in the 1980s (many argue Return of the Living Dead) they began to run. Since then, there have been so many different takes on the sub-genre …
Film Review: A Gentle Creature
The spectre of authoritarianism, totalitarianism and dictatorships has cast a pall over much of Eastern European literature and film-making for generations. It has created some dour, depressing and downbeat work. The likes of Kafka, Gogol and Dostoevsky often focussed on corruption and the layered inanity of unmitigated bureaucracy. Sergey Loznitsa’s new film, A Gentle Creature, …
DVD Review: The Mimic
Whilst Asian film-makers have revitalised genre cinema over the past few decades, the plaudits are usually bestowed upon Japan. The economic boom in Korea led to the resurgence of its national cinema industry around the turn of the century. This sparked a thriving market for horror films, the most notable being Whispering Corridors (and its …
Film Review: A Woman’s Life
If you’re looking for an uplifting and happy cinematic experience you should really think twice about going to see a Stéphane Brizé film. The French director is in his element when ensconced in intricate studies of human endurance and suffering. His last film, The Measure of a Man, picked up a number of awards and …
Film Review: Mountains May Depart
Until recently, the Mainland Chinese cinema was a mystery to almost everyone outside of the country. The economic and public reforms within China this century has led to an opening-up, both culturally and artistically. We’re reaching the stage where we’re exposed to its cinema in the same way as any other emerging film industry. Social …
Blu-Ray Review: Montparnasse 19
The portrait of a tortured artist is one which has inspired fascination and sometimes imitation for hundreds of years. Alcoholism and drug addiction can become romantic notions when they’re associated with the likes of Hemingway, van Gogh, Toulouse-Lautrec, Coleridge or Dickens. Indeed, these kinds of excesses have become synonymous with those who are considered creative …