Film Review: Creepy
It’s probably worth admitting, before I go any further, that Kairo (Pulse) is my favourite horror film. Before moving into mainstream dramas with the award-winning Journey to the Shore and Tokyo Sonata, director Kiyoshi Kurosawa made a name for himself as one of the leading exponents of Japanese horror cinema. With his new film, Creepy, …
Incoming: Allied
Allied is the story of intelligence officer Max Vatan (Pitt), who in 1942 North Africa encounters French Resistance fighter Marianne Beausejour (Cotillard) on a deadly mission behind enemy lines. Reunited in London, their relationship is threatened by the extreme pressures of the war. Allied is out in cinemas from Friday.
Film Review: The Wailing
There was a period, at the beginning of this century, where South Korea was making the most innovative and exciting films in the world. Oldboy, Memories of Murder, The Host, My Sassy Girl, Tale of Two Sisters, Sympathy for Mr Vengeance and A Bittersweet Life could go toe to toe with whatever Hollywood had to …
DVD Review: The Lovers and the Despot
As one of the few remaining ‘closed’ countries in the world, North Korea has continued to fascinate, bemuse, bewilder and scare much of the free world since the Korean War over sixty years ago. In terms of cinema, many documentarians have struggled over the years to steal a peek behind the curtain. The most notable …
Blu-Ray Review: Akira Kurosawa’s Dreams (Criterion Collection)
Akira Kurosawa is widely considered one of the greatest film-makers in Japanese cinematic history. In 1990, the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences honoured his contribution to worldwide cinema. He’s synonymous with war/samurai films such as Ran, Seven Samurai, Throne of Blood, The Hidden Fortress and Yojimbo. However, his other works, whilst less well …
Blu-Ray Review: Roxanne
There was once a time when Steve Martin was the biggest name in film. The former stand-up comedian, who came to prominence for his appearances on Saturday Night Live, made an almost seamless transition into film. His first feature Jerk, was a huge success. He followed it up with star turns in Dead Men Don’t …
DVD Review: Billions
There’s always been a fascination in the US with money and power; the epitome of the American dream. Whilst it’s not a unique phenomenon to one country, chasing the big bucks is part of their national psyche. At its peak in the 1980s, it was captured on TV through shows such as Dallas and Dynasty. …
Incoming: Your Name
Your Name is the story of a teenage boy and girl who have never met, but who start to magically swap minds and live each other’s lives. Mitsuha, a teenage girl student, lives in a small mountain town, but longs for the bright lights of Tokyo far away. Then she is astonished to wake one …
Film Review: I, Olga
In 1975 Olga Hepnarová was the last woman executed in Czechoslovakia. As with Ruth Ellis, who was the last woman to receive the death penalty in the UK, people are fascinated by female killers. Indeed, you’d be hard-pressed to name the last men hanged in Britain whilst Ellis is well-known. In 1973 Hepnarová drove her …
Incoming: Gimme Danger
Emerging from Ann Arbor Michigan amidst a countercultural revolution, The Stooges powerful and aggressive style of rock-n-roll blew a crater in the musical landscape of the late 1960s. Assaulting audiences with a blend of rock, blues, R&B, and free jazz, the band planted the seeds for what would be called punk and alternative rock in …