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DVD/Blu-Ray Review


Film Review: Initiation

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Blu-Ray Review: Carla’s Song

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It’s fair to say that, in the modern world, knowing your neighbours is becoming an increasingly rare phenomenon. Looking at the bigger picture, it highlights the erosion of local communities and suggests a breakdown of society. The practical implications resolve around the inability to borrow a cup of sugar or a stepladder. In Marcus Dunstan’s …

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It’s hard to believe it now but during the Cold War ordinary people were terrified by the prospect of a nuclear apocalypse. This was especially the case in America. An atmosphere of fear often permeated throughout society in times of high tension. This period has frequently been captured on film, most notably in Dr. Strangelove, …

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Seeing ‘based on true events’, or something similar, flash-up at the start of a film almost always rings alarm bells for me. This is especially the case with horror films. Facts are often distorted out of all recognition and the story is routinely ‘sexed-up’ or exaggerated out of all proportions. The events in Liza Johnson’s …

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The current political and social climate in the US is pretty scary to say the least. What with the rise of Trump, the killing of unarmed black men and the general prevalence of gun crime, America is a pretty scary place to live. However, this is by no way a new phenomenon. It’s arguable that …

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In this day and age filmmakers are no longer solely reliant upon the whims of studios or attracting rich benefactors. With new technology making it cheaper than ever to make a film, the way they are funded has changed profoundly over the decades. Managed by Ffilm Cymru Wales, Cinematic is a film fund which produces …

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War throws up many horrors. World War II and the Holocaust showed the depths that humanity can sink to given the right drivers and propaganda. Much has been made of the atrocities of conflict, whether that be in the prison camps and on the battlefield. The plight of civilians in occupied areas has also been …

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The death of David Bowie earlier this year brought to an end one of the most iconic and celebrated musical careers of the last century. A master of re-invention and evolution, Bowie was always on the vanguard, and a champion, of progress. Whilst his acting career wasn’t anywhere near as successful, he always brought a …

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Of all the film directors who have ever lived there’s probably none with a greater love of cinema than François Truffaut. The great French auteur simply lived, breathed and ate film. As one of the greatest directors of the 20th Century and a pioneer of the French New Wave he helped define modern cinema. In …

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There are very few American directors still working in Hollywood today who are held in the same reverence and regard as Brian De Palma. He first emerged in the American New Wave, along with the likes of Spielberg, Lucas and Coppola, but his career has had a very singular trajectory. Films such as Scarface, Carrie, …

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There are many ways to skin a documentary but seldom follow a similar path to Zhao Liang’s meandering poetic and lyrical Behemoth. Whilst the angle a filmmaker approaches subjects like environmental destruction, industrialisation and social inequality can differ wildly, it’s a rare kind of director who is bold enough to just let the pictures do …

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