Blu-Ray Review: El Topo
Many films claim to be unusual, different or just plain strange. Profess to be totally removed from anything we’ve ever seen before. Sadly, very few live up to this billing. Often borrowing wholesale from other movies or pale imitations of someone else’s imagination. This cannot be said for anything Alejandro Jodorowsky has made. He’s one …
Film Review: The Boy Behind the Door
In genre cinema, evil comes in many (often highly imaginative) shapes and sizes but it’s usually in a form which is palatable to the viewer and apportions blame outside the human realm. We find It difficult to comprehend that someone who looks like us can be inherently evil. However, life sadly doesn’t work like that …
Film Review: The Offering
Guilt is not easy to live with and likes to make an appearance at the most inconvenient moments. It certainly isn’t a good bedfellow if you were planning on catching any sleep anytime soon. It can quietly gnaw away at us all our lives, each and every day. What if there was something you could …
Film Review: For Madmen Only
There’s a good chance that you’ve never heard of Del Close. Don’t worry, you’re not alone. Whilst he was instrumental in helping make the careers of just about anyone who was anyone from a generation of American comedians, he never achieved fame himself. This is partly down to bad luck but like so many talented …
Film Review: The Most Beautiful Boy in the World
The history of Hollywood is littered with tales of child actors who achieved fame early and then went off the rails, often disappearing entirely from public life. Sometimes, as was the case with Drew Barrymore, they manage to get their careers back on track, but more often than not they largely fade from the public …
Blu-Ray Review: Beauty and the Beast
In the West, much of our knowledge of fairy tales comes courtesy of Disney. This is undoubtedly the case with Beauty and the Beast, their 1991 version of Belle and the Beast’s story becoming a box office smash and popular favourite. Replacing the critically acclaimed Jean Cocteau version from decades earlier. However, this is only …
Film Review – Luz: The Flower of Evil
Whilst much of the horror we see in our multiplexes comes from Hollywood, having a big budget or huge marketing campaign doesn’t necessarily make it any good. In fact, the opposite is often the case. Although harder to find, South America, as a continent, is beginning to produce some great genre cinema. The likes of …
Blu-ray Review: Bringing Up Baby
Whilst he might not be as well-known today as some of his peers, Howard Hawks is undoubtedly one of the greatest America filmmakers of his generation. What sets him apart from most was his willingness and indeed eagerness to work across a number of genres. The popularity of the likes of Rio Bravo (western), The …
Blu-ray Review: The Babadook
If all you had to go on were the countless upbeat social media posts and photo galleries we see every day, parenting might seem like a walk in the park chock full of magic moments. That every day will bring a new and amazing revelation about your beautiful, bright and creative little genius. Spoiler alert: …
Blu-Ray Review: The Day of the Dolphin
Mike Nichols began his career behind the camera with a bang. Like his former improv partner Elaine May, he immediately made a big splash when he swapped the stage for the screen. His debut, Who’s Afraid of Virginia Woolf?, was nominated for thirteen Oscars, eventually winning five. He went on to make a number of …