DVD/Blu-Ray Review
DVD Review: Swimming To Cambodia
The Killing Fields was a powerful and moving work of cinema which brought the horrendous actions of the Khmer Rouge to a mass audience. Writer and actor Spalding Gray played an aide to the US Ambassador in Roland Joffé’s film. He used his experiences gained from his time in Southeast Asia to create a four …
DVD Review: Eastern Boys
Immigration is a huge political issue across Europe. Whilst the media like to deal in sensationalist headlines and scaremongering, it’s often left to cinema to paint a more humane and empathetic picture. Over the last few years we’ve been graced with Sin Nombre, Biutiful, The Golden Dream and the wonderful Le Harve, amongst many others. …
DVD Review: Amour Fou
We have a certain fascination with the lives of those who create profound and timeless prose and poetry. For those of us with no literary talent, the desire to understand what makes someone a great writer is a powerful one. Cinema has a similar love affair. Capote, An Angel at My Table, Shadowlands, Moliere, Quills, …
DVD Review: The Other
If cinema tells us anything about children, it’s that they’re inherently evil. Children and adolescents are often the scariest thing you’ll find in a horror film. Damien traumatised an entire generation in the Omen films, whilst more recently small Japanese girls terrorised a whole new generation. Much of director Robert Mulligan’s career has focussed on …
DVD Review: Spring in a Small Town
Little is widely known about early Chinese cinema is West. To a lesser degree, the same can be said in China itself. Much of the influence of early film making in the country was dictated by wars and politics. The 1930s witnessed the first great era of cinema, which was brought to an abrupt end …
DVD Review: Fury
There have been many films about World War II, and as such an important period in our history, it’s a conflict which continues to occupy thoughts and minds. This century has seen a plethora of releases from around the world including Downfall, Inglorious Bastards, City of Life and Death, The Pianist, Letters From Iwo Jima, …
DVD Review: Wild River
Elia Kazan is often considered to be one of the most influential directors working in post-war American cinema. Responsible for introducing the world to James Dean and Marlon Brando, he was rewarded with two Best Director Oscars for Gentlemen’s Agreement and On The Waterfront. He also received an honorary award from the Academy. His films …
DVD Review: Rabid
David Cronenberg built a reputation as a filmmaker through the establishment of what was to become classed as the “body horror” genre. The Canadian director’s fascination with the effect of scientists’ experimentation on humans was a recurring theme through much of his early work; most famously in the remake of The Fly and Videodrome. His …
Blu-ray Review: The Killing + Killer’s Kiss
Stanley Kubrick is one of the greatest film directors of all time. He’s been widely acclaimed for his later post-Dr Strangelove work, including 2001: A Space Odyssey, The Shining, A Clockwork Orange and Full Metal Jacket. However, his earlier work is often overlooked. It didn’t take Kubrick long to find his feet as a director …
DVD Review: The Great Museum
There’s something simply fascinating about being a fly on the wall. Especially when that wall belongs to a famous historic institution like the Kunsthistorisches Museum in Vienna. What is completely ordinary to those who work there, can be entirely fascinating to others. Director Johannes Holzhausen spent two years gathering material together for The Great Museum. …