DVD/Blu-Ray Review
Blu-Ray Review: Blade Runner 2049
When Ridley Scott released Blade Runner in 1982, he indelibly changed the face of modern science-fiction film-making. Ford, Young and Hauer’s neo-noir classic created its own mythos, inspiring countless imitators and remains one of the greatest in the genre. Decades of legal wrangling regarding cuts, rights and licences finally seem to be over, and Scott …
Blu-Ray Review: The Battle of Algiers
After World War II the nature of combat, resistance and indeed war changed markedly. Countries were no longer prepared or able to be involved in traditional arenas of conflict. The nature of armed forces has shifted towards technologically driven killing machines. With the price of human life depending more on socio-political considerations rather than risk …
Blu-Ray Review: Henri-Georges Clouzot’s Inferno
The history of cinema is littered with those ‘what if?’ moments. The biggest shock of this decade so far is Terry Gilliam finally finishing The Man Who Killed Don Quixote (or maybe the fact someonone was prepared to give him the money to do so). Sadly, Tim Burton and Nicolas Cage’s Superman Lives will never …
Blu-Ray Review: The Cat O’ Nine Tails
As Ana Lily Amirpour discovered to her cost last year, following up on a critically acclaimed debut can be a tricky business. A Girl Walks Home Alone at Night was widely lauded, and for good reason. However, her second film, The Bad Batch, was at best messy. The ‘sophomore slump’ has afflicted many directors, most …
Blu-Ray Review: Blue Collar
Richard Pryor was arguably the most influential, important and downright funny stand-up comedian of the last fifty years. His X-rated tirades on racial politics and current affairs wowed audiences around the world. His brand of storytelling revolutionised the medium. Pryor starred in a number of comedy films, most notably in Stir Crazy with frequent collaborator …
Blu-Ray Review: Charley Varrick
When we think about Walter Matthau today, it’s his great comedy roles which spring to mind. Comedy is what made him famous, and he was never better than when he was working in tandem with Jack Lemmon. Mattheu won an Oscar for his performance in Fortune Cookie, but it was another of the duo’s films …
DVD Review: Cold Moon
Southern Gothic is one of the most fascinating and enthralling areas of American writing and film-making. The sub-genre is characterised by flawed and eccentric characters, dilapidated rural communities, eerie events and an air of malice. This atmosphere has been most successfully captured on film in Charles Laughton’s Night of the Hunter, Elia Kazan’s A Streetcar …
Blu-Ray Review: Borg vs McEnroe
Today, tennis is multi-billion-dollar sport which is watched and played all over the world. In order to even consider getting near the top 100 you have to be a superb athlete. Fitness regimes, dietary plans rigorous training sessions are par for the course. This hasn’t always been the case. Until Bjorn Borg arrived on the …
Blu-Ray Review: Hounds of Love
Australians seem to possess a rather perverse dark humour which they bring to their film-making. This is especially the case in their horror films. Whether it’s the psychological terror of the classic Wake in Fright, the deliciously gruesome Wolf Creek, the almost surreal ‘true story’ Lake Mungo or the snappy Black Water, there’s something rather …
DVD Review: Chasing the Dragon
Hong Kong cinema has built up a reputation for stylish and slick crime dramas. The reigning master is undoubtedly Johnnie To, who has transformed his spin on the genre into something of an artform. The likes of PTU, The Mission and Exiled are modern classics. However, he’s not short of competition. When John Woo exploded …