Film Review: The Velvet Queen
This planet is truly a wonderous place. Created by a number of happy coincidences and a lot of luck. The fact we, humans, are here at all is as close to a miracle as you’re ever likely to see. Just the sheer diversity of flora and fauna is almost beyond comprehension. That’s even before you …
Blu-Ray Review: Love Jones
The 1990s was a strange decade for filmmaking. There were so many films which were critically well-received at the time, financially unsuccessful, but achieved a cult status in the years and decades which followed. This has led to many works being re-appraised and consequently reaching a whole new generation of movie lovers. Giving them a …
Film Review – Ennio: The Maestro
While actors, directors, cinematographers and writers usually get most of the credit, it should never be underestimated just how important a soundtrack is to the success of a film. Done well, music elevates a scene. Alerts the audience to what’s coming next and sets-up the moment. Most of our favourite movie memories are intrinsically linked …
CPH:DOX Review: Just Animals
Veganism has never been so popular. Arguably, the main contributing factor is the growing awareness of how we treat animals. Not to mention the chain of events which bring livestock to our plates. Animal welfare activists have tried all manner of approaches to get issues the media attention they deserve, over the years, but it …
Blu-Ray Review: Make Way for Tomorrow
In the ‘developed world’, at least, we live in an era of increasing life expectancy and aging populations. Most societies aren’t set-up to deal with this, both in terms of care and healthcare provisions. We’re living in an increasingly globalised world which means that families are often scattered far and wide. Parents and children often …
Blu-Ray Review: Days of Bagnold Summer
Cinema tends to portray school holidays as epic turning points in the lives of children. The time when we experience our first love or face some important event or tragedy. A major turning point in our lives or when we make the difficult transition into adulthood. Or even a summer romance. In actuality, those weeks …
Film Review – Virus: 32
While there’s always been a certain amount of horror conjured-up by the idea of a virus-driven pandemic, the last few years have brought the prospect into stark relief. Not that COVID-19 turns its victims into mindless zombies wild with bloodlust or a hunger for brains, but it’s still very scary. Making films based on this …
Visions du Réel Review: Tolyatti Adrift
It has been decades since the fall of the Iron Curtain but our general understanding of what is now Russia, or within its orbit, is poor to say the least. While I think most people in the West could name a handful of cities, there are well over a thousand of them (although they don’t …
Film Review: Playground
I think most of us still have vague memories of our first day or days at school. Especially if we’ve moved around and have endured several. Even if they’re now just abstract feelings of terror. Everything seemed so big and scary, and that wasn’t just the older kids! There was a system. A hierarchy. One …
Blu-ray Review: Godmonster of Indian Flats
There’s nothing quite like a good creature feature. A film which introduces a monster into a narrative and has a whole lot of fun with it. Whether it works or not has as much to do with the time and effort invested in making it as it does budget. You don’t need to spend millions …