Blu-Ray Review: Adoption
On the face of it, communism doesn’t exactly seem like the ideal breeding ground for feminism to flourish. Whilst everyone was theoretically equal in the USSR, many rich old white men were more equal than other. The narrative pushed by the authorities was that of the heroic Marxist worker, dedicating their life to making the …
Film Review: High Ground
The term ‘western’ conjures up stories of cowboys and ‘Indians’ from the wild west of frontier America. However, it’s a genre of film which has captured the imagination of directors around the world, most notably in Italy. In Australia, makers of ‘meat pie’ (or kangaroo) westerns have taken the tropes and cliches of the genre …
Film Review: King Otto
On even years (usually), the normally boring summer period for football fans is enlivened by the prospect of an international competition. Whilst it’s no World Cup, the EUROs (or European Football Championships) tend to produce the bigger shocks and on more than one occasion we’ve seen a winner that could not have been predicted. This …
Film Review: Bad Hair
Regardless of how multicultural western societies claim to be, when it comes to Afro-textured hair there’s usually a need for specialist and expert treatment. You can’t just walk into any old salon and be guaranteed the service you require. This isn’t just the case when it comes to cutting and styling, weaving and relaxing. The …
Film Review: Witch Hunt
According to the Oxford English Dictionary, a witch hunt is ‘a campaign directed against a person or group holding views considered unorthodox or a threat to society’. The phrase was first made famous by George Orwell but (obviously) harks back to the time of witch trials. Whilst wiccans might not find themselves the (sole) recipients …
Film Review: Last Man Standing
Nick Broomfield has been making documentaries for over five decades now. His style and idiosyncratic ways of working have been highly influential on many other filmmakers. The English filmmaker’s most high-profile documentaries have been about musicians. Kurt and Courtney caused controversy and was pulled from Sundance but it’s Biggie and Tupac which probably generated the …
Film Review – WITCH: We Intend to Cause Havoc
It’s not something you’d probably ever think about but in most of the English-speaking Western world we’re very myopic when it comes to the range of music we listen to. It’s almost all in our (main) native tongue and the vast majority comes from North America, Australasia, Britain or Ireland. It’s very rare to hear …
Blu-Ray Review: Harry Birrell Presents Films of Love & War
Whilst documentaries come in all shapes and sizes, it’s often the personal and intimate ones which carry the most resonance. Whilst focussing on a seemingly obscure or niche figure, film-makers conflate their experiences with that of many others. How their lives are a microcosm of a bigger picture. Harry Birrell Presents Films of Love and …
Blu-Ray Review: The Night of the Hunter
Charles Laughton was arguably the greatest actor of his generation. He was definitely one of the most recognisable. A huge screen and stage presence, he won the Academy Award for his performance in Alexander Korda’s The Private Life of Henry VIII. He was also magnificent in the likes of Mutiny on the Bounty, The Big …
Film Review: God Exists, Her Name is Petrunya
The LUX Prize, or to call it by its full name the European Audience Film Award by the European Parliament and the European Film Academy, is awarded each year to a film which raises awareness of socio-political issues in Europe. Past winners have included Ida, Woman at War, Mustang and The Snows of Kilimanjaro. In …