Film
Film Review: Slumber Party Massacre
As a rule of thumb, remakes are pale shadows of the original concepts they seek to imitate. Especially, when it’s a case of simply taking a film from a smaller market, say Japan or South Korea, and making a shot for shot copy, but in English. Some of the best examples have been American remakes …
Film Review: Citizen Ashe
The sport of tennis has always been popular, but it wasn’t until the late 1970s that it became the huge money-spinning business it is today. That was largely down to the characters who dominated the game during that period, such as Björn Borg, Jimmy Connors and John McEnroe. In many ways, it was a time …
Blu-Ray Review: The Love of Jeanne Ney
While the silent era planted the foundation stones for a global film industry which is now worth countless billions, it feels like it’s often dismissed as merely a genre in conversation. When in fact it was cinema, in all its entirety and diversity. The Weimar Republic played host to some of the most influential directors …
Blu-Ray Review: Menace II Society
Over the last decade, the film industry has taken major steps forward on the diversity and inclusion fronts. However, successful producers and studio heads have traditionally been white men. The same can be said for directors and leading actors. The African-American voice was largely sidelined or reduced in mainstream US cinema, but things began to …
Film Review: The Advent Calendar
Physical disabilities have been used in genre cinema dating back to the silent era, but usually not in a good way. Traditionally, the ‘bad guy’ or ‘monster’ had some form of seen or unseen disability. Thankfully, we’ve come a long way (unless it’s a Bond film) but this stereotype often still persists. Horror filmmakers have …
Tallinn Black Nights Review: Other People
At the beginning of the twentieth century, musical theatre became increasingly popular with audiences who demanded light relief from the socio-political issues leading up to, and during, World War I. With the advent of ‘talkies’ in the 1920s, musicals made the logical transition onto the big screen. This move opened the medium up to a …
Blu-ray Review: Le Samouraï
During the 1960s and 1970s, Alain Delon was one of the most iconic faces of European cinema. He made a string of eye-catching films with famous directors, including Antonioni (L’Eclisse), Visconti (The Leopard), Clément (Plein Soleil) and Losey (Mr Klein). However, it’s probably his work with the great Jean-Pierre Melville which remains the most feted. …
Tallinn Black Nights Review: Alice, Through The Looking
As all intellectuals are inclined to do, I would start this piece with some sort of relevant academic quote. Preferably from a writer, philosopher or cultural studies expert who you may know the name of, but are all together unsure of their merits or ideas. If I was to do this however, I would be …
Film Review: The Shop Around the Corner
Jimmy Stewart was one of the most popular film stars of his generation but doesn’t get the plaudits his acting ability so richly deserved. Over a career which spanned five decades, he’s played numerous memorable characters across several genres. Starring in the likes of Mr. Smith Goes to Washington, Rear Window, Vertigo, The Philadelphia Story, …
Blu-Ray Review: Champion
Boxing is one sport which punches well above its weight when it comes to popularity and media attention. Indeed, the amount of money to be made, primarily for uneducated young men, has made it a way out of poverty and a viable alternative to a life of crime. These factors have also made big box …