DVD Review: The Grandmaster
Wong Kar-wai is the greatest living Hong Kong auteur, who made his international breakthrough with the stunning Chungking Express in the ’90s. He’s probably best known for the multiple award-winning In The Mood For Love. However, whilst not as widely known, Days of Being Wild, Ashes of Time and Happy Together are just a few …
Incoming: Dior and I
Filmmaker Frédéric Tcheng follows up his work on excellent fashion films, including Diana Vreeland: The Eye Has to Travel and Valentino: The Last Emperor, with another masterful exploration of a towering fashion institution. In Dior and I, one enters the storied world that is the House of Christian Dior with a privileged, behind-the-scenes look at …
DVD Review: Pelo Malo
The innocence if childhood is often used in cinema to tackle serious social issues. The presence of a child can often add another level of potency and emotion to a film. Whether it’s a tale of poverty such as The Rocket, exploitation and power in The White Ribbon, or fascism in the fantastical Pan’s Labyrinth, …
DVD Review: Wooden Crosses ( Masters of Cinema)
Whilst war was mainly glorified in early cinema (often in the name of propaganda), there’s always been a strong seam of pacifistic film making. The most famous of examples are Jean Renoir’s La Grande Illusion and Lewis Milestone’s All Quiet On The Western Front. Whilst anti-war films really came into their own during the Vietnam …
DVD Review: The Drop
American crime dramas have occupied a lot of Hollywood’s time over the years. However, the gangster films of The Godfather and Goodfellas are largely in the past, replaced by a new breed of criminal. Gone are the Italian Mafiosi. They’ve been replaced by gangs from Eastern Europe. Go to a cinema nowadays, and more often …
DVD Review: Man of the West (Masters of Cinema)
Westerns are a much maligned cinematic genre, but once upon a time they were the Hollywood equivalent of modern action films. Today, we’re often left with the image of an overacting John Wayne swaggering round a town full of tumbleweed. However, there’s been some classic westerns over the years, with Once Upon a Time in …
Incoming: Mommy
From modern cinema’s wunderkind, Xavier Dolan, comes this heartbreakingly honest story of a single mother raising her tearaway teenage son. Equal parts funny, brutal and uplifting, this is an astounding cinematic experience filled with electrifying performances from its central characters. Mommy is out in cinemas on Friday.
Incoming: A Second Chance
How far are decent human beings willing to go, when tragedy blurs the line between just and unjust? Susanne Bier and Anders Thomas Jensen have crafted a startling yet moving drama, about how easily we lose our grasp on justice when confronted with the unthinkable, and life as we know it hangs by a thread. …
Incoming: The Tale of Princess Kaguya
Found inside a shining stalk of bamboo, a tiny girl grows into an exquisite young lady, raised by an old bamboo cutter and his wife. From the countryside to the grand capital city, even unseen she enthrals all who encounter her, including five noble suitors. Ultimately she must face her fate, punishment for her crime. …
DVD Review: The Skeleton Twins
Cinema is one of the best mediums for providing the feel and attitude of an era. Take the ’80s for instance. The sense of rebellion was personified in the Breakfast Club and the trials and tribulations of impending adulthood by Empire Records. Toss Stand By Me and Lost Boys into the mix, and you get …