Classic Cinema
Blu-Ray Review: Black Girl
While you might think that domestic servitude is a thing of the past, it’s alive and kicking in many parts of the world. While it’s rife in regions such as the Indian Subcontinent, Middle-East, South-East Asia and many parts of Africa, that doesn’t mean to say it doesn’t still happen in Europe. While the colonial …
Blu-Ray Review: Execution in Autumn
Lee Hsing sadly passed away last year at the ripe old age of 91. The godfather of Taiwanese cinema made over thirty films in a career spanning over four decades. As well as being popular with audiences in his homeland, he was nominated for, and won, a number of awards at the national Golden Horse …
Blu-Ray Review: The Discreet Charm of the Bourgeoisie
Luis Buñuel was undoubtedly one of the most distinctive, and successful, European filmmakers of his generation. Spending much of his youth in Paris, the Spaniard was deeply involved with the surrealism movement. He carried this with him throughout his career, going on to make a number of critically acclaimed and iconic films. Working across a …
Blu-Ray Review: The Razor’s Edge
During the 1920s, and the following three decades, matinée idols played an important role in Hollywood. Almost always male, these stars were known for their debonaire good looks and normally cast as romantic leads or secondary leads. While it was often used as a derogatory term, there were many actors who rose above this tag. …
Blu-Ray Review: Double Indemnity
It’s the oldest trick in the book. Beautiful young woman marries a rich older man, persuades him to take out a life insurance policy and soon after he, coincidentally, has a nasty accident. Even better if she can find some patsy to do the deed for her, using her feminine wiles to keep him on …
Blu-Ray Review: Vampyr
Today’s modern horror films, especially those which make it into multiplexes, tend to be full of flashy effects and polished to within an inch of their lives. Often featuring a score that is so obtrusive you’ll possibly want to tear your head off. It hasn’t always been this way and much of the output coming …
Blu-Ray Review: Revolver
Oliver Reed brought his unique and distinctive presence to every film he starred in. Whilst the troubled actor may have been infamous for his off-screen antics, he also had an undeniable screen presence and muscularity which he brought to every role. His performances in the likes of Women in Love, Castaway, The Devils and Oliver! …
Blu-Ray Review: The Wrong Arm of the Law
There was a time when Peter Sellers was one of the most famous actors in the world. He’d risen to prominence in the UK for The Goon Show but it was his role as Inspector Clouseau in The Pink Panther films which brought him international recognition. Then there’s his performance in Dr. Strangelove, which is …
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: 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 …