DVD/Blu-Ray Review
Blu-Ray Review: A Boy and His Dog
Don Johnson was one of the coolest actors of his generation. During the 1980s, he became a cultural icon thanks to the role of Crocket in Miami Vice. Whilst he’s gone on to make a number of films and TV shows, nothing has really come close to matching its success. However, he seems to have …
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: Angela Mao: Hapkido and Lady Whirlwind
Although Martial arts films played an important role in Asian cinema since the end of World War II, it wasn’t until the golden age of the late 1970s that they became such big business across the world. While the West started to fall in love with the likes of Bruce Lee and Jackie Chan, it …
Blu-Ray Review: Hearts and Minds
The Vietnam War was one of the lowest points in post-war US history, and there is stiff competition for that title. The USSR and America spent almost twenty years waging a proxy war in south east Asia. For a country renowned for its patriotism and nationalism, it proved to be a highly contentious conflict at …
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 …
Blu-Ray Review: A Fugitive from the Past
The golden age of Japanese cinema was during the 1950s. Although the post-occupation period was difficult for ordinary people, it proved to be a successful time for filmmakers. The next decade saw a new wave when auteurs began to give their films a more distinctive national identity. Tomu Uchida started his career in the 1920s …
Blu-Ray Review – Police Story 3: Supercop
Before becoming the action-comedy sidekick of choice in Hollywood, Jackie Chan was arguably the leading light in Hong Kong martial arts cinema. Following Bruce Lee’s tragic death, producers tried to cast him in the same ilk, but it never really stuck. Instead, the ace choreographer almost singlehandedly created ‘comedic kung-fu’. Melding his ingenious stunt work …
Blu-Ray Review: Burning an Illusion
While Britain, relatively speaking, is a multicultural and diverse nation, this hasn’t always been reflected in popular culture. The experiences of the ‘Windrush generation’, and their children, have only been captured on film fairly recently. Indeed, when Burning an Illusion was released in 1981 it was only the second British film directed by a black …
Blu-Ray Review: Love
During the Cold War, communist states were great supporters of their filmmakers. As long as they were telling stories which aligned with their ideology, that is. Writers and directors regularly walked a tightrope between individuality and prison. This reflected daily life for ordinary citizens. Living in a society where anyone could be an informer and …
Blu-ray Review: Frankenstein and the Monster from Hell
When Mary Shelley published Frankenstein (or The Modern Prometheus) in 1818, she couldn’t have envisaged just how popular her creation would turn out to be. How it would go on to inspire and terrify, in equal measure, generations to come. The concept of the mad scientist and their re-animated monster remains an enticing prospect. The …