Blu-Ray Review: The Bleeder
Hollywood has long held a fascination with boxers and boxing. In the post-war era, the likes of The Set-Up, Someone Up There Likes Me and Requiem for a Heavyweight all proved popular at the Box Office. However, it was the advent of Rocky and Raging Bull which really revitalised the sub-genre for subsequent generations. The …
Incoming: Le Soledad
Capturing the life of real people amidst the Venezuelan crisis, La Soledad is the story of José, a young father who discovers that the dilapidated mansion he occupies will soon be demolished. Desperate to save his family from homelessness, José begins a search for a cursed treasure that has long said to be buried in …
Blu-Ray Review: Le Trou
When discussion turns to the greats of French film-making, the name Jacques Becker isn’t one which instantly springs to mind. Whilst Truffaut, Godard, Malle, Melville et al all attract swathes of devotees, Becker struggled to escape the shadow of his mentor, Jean Renoir. Whilst his peers established their own visual signatures, Becker preferred to focus …
Film Review: The Untamed
Thanks to Guillermo del Toro, Mexican horror cinema is firmly on the map. However, it’s a country with a rich tradition of genre cinema. Mexican director Amat Escalante caused a stir in 2013 when his brutal, gritty and earthy Heli wowed and stunned audiences on the festival circuit. For his latest film, Escalante follows in …
Incoming: The Odyssey
Summer, 1946. The Cousteau family – Jacques, his wife Simone and their two children Philippe and Jean-Michel – live in their beautiful house by the Mediterranean sea. By day they dive, by night they watch the stars. It’s paradise on earth. But Jacques is never content. He lives and breathes adventure and believes absolutely in …
Blu-Ray Review: The Saga of Anatahan (Masters of Cinema)
After his family emigrated to the United States when he was in his teens, Josef von Sternberg set out on a path to becoming one of the most iconic, difficult and dominating film-makers of the Golden Age of Hollywood. He discovered and ‘made’ Marlene Dietrich, working together with her seven times; most successfully on Blue …
Incoming: Step
Step chronicles the senior year of a girls’ high-school step dance team against the background of inner-city Baltimore. These young women find a unity through their team that pushes them to challenge themselves on and off the stage. Empowered by their teachers, teammates, counselors, coaches and families, they chase their ultimate dreams: to win a …
Blu-Ray Review: Clash
There’s been extensive media coverage of the ‘Arab Spring’, with much of the focus falling on Egypt. And whilst the country came together to help bring down President Hosni Mubarak in 2011, Egypt is not, and never will be, a united country. It’s a subject which has fascinated documentary film-makers. In his debut film, 678, …
Incoming: Shin Godzilla
Make way for the ultimate homage to one of the most enduring legends of the big screen—Godzilla! The King of the Monsters is back in Tokyo for a city-crushing crusade that speaks to the very roots of the world-renowned franchise. Shin Godzilla is in cinemas from today.
Incoming: A Ghost Story
Recently deceased, a white-sheeted ghost (Casey Affleck) returns to his suburban home to console his bereft wife (Rooney Mara), only to find that in his spectral state he has become unstuck in time, forced to watch passively as the life he knew and the woman he loves slowly slip away. Increasingly unmoored, the ghost embarks …