Classic Cinema
Blu-Ray Review: The Fighting Kentuckian
While time hasn’t been on his side, Marion Robert Morrison, aka John Wayne, was one of the most iconic stars of his generation. Working during the Golden Age of Hollywood, usually starring in westerns or war films, The Duke was a household name across America and beyond. In the course of his career, he made …
Blu-Ray Review: Ghost Stories for Christmas: Volume 1
There’s something very persuasive about a traditional ghost story. Tales which may have been initially spoken around a campfire. Passed down from generation to generation. Each country, and regions within those nations, have their own legends and folklore. While these are inherited through word of mouth, they’re often augmented and adapted by the minds of …
Blu-Ray Review: The Cat And The Canary/The Ghost Breakers
If you’re from a certain generation, Bob Hope was arguably the most quintessential American comedian. He made over fifty films in a career which spanned a number of mediums. Probably best known for his collaboration with Bing Crosby in the ‘Road’ films, he was an ever present in the entertainment industry for decades. His major …
Blu-Ray Review: The Driver
It takes a great deal of planning and coordination to pull-off the perfect heist. You need to do your research, without looking suspicious. Know your target inside out. Then, you need to assemble a team of reliable and trustworthy criminals who all have their own individual skillset. Each member will play their part in doing …
Blu-ray Review: The Trial
There are probably no other American directors who can hold a candle to Orson Welles when it comes to being an enigma. The larger-than-life figure left a huge mark on cinema. He was a genius who had a habit of starting a project and then getting distracted. Or running out of money. Then again, when …
Blu-Ray Review: The Teckman Mystery
Today, while women still struggle to experience a level playing with men when it comes to filmmaking, it was rare to see anyone but a white man behind the camera in post-war Britain. Indeed, along with Muriel Box, Wendy Toye was one of the only pioneering female directors during the 1950s and 1960s. She started …
Blu-Ray Review: The Draughtsman’s Contract
Of all the British directors of the last 50 years, Peter Greenaway is arguably the most interesting. A painter by training, he brought this art into every inch of his filmmaking. Every shot feels meticulously composed. Celluloid is his canvas. Using landscape and portrait to ensure that each scene is impeccably constructed. Using nature as …
Blu-Ray Review: The Sleeping Tiger
Nurture of nature? One of the oldest debates in the book. Are we fated to live out the lives our genes afford us, or is our upbringing instrumental in making us the person we will become? For those who are proponents of the latter, childhood is the most important stage of development. It’s in these …
Blu-Ray Review: Gothic Fantastico
Of all the elements that make up horror fiction it’s arguably the Gothic which remains the most reliably chilling. The atmosphere, the mystery, the ghosts. Tales of love and betrayal. Or greed and murder. All normally set in a big old house, which is as character in its own right. Stories as old as the …
Blu-Ray Review: The Great Dictator
Hindsight is a wonderful thing. Today, if you watch any of the rallies Hitler addressed it’s easy to see how dangerous he was or would become. At the same time, he comes across as a raving madman. He exhibited a style of delivery and a espoused a form of dogma which characterises most despots. It …