Arrow Films
Blu-Ray Review: Montparnasse 19
The portrait of a tortured artist is one which has inspired fascination and sometimes imitation for hundreds of years. Alcoholism and drug addiction can become romantic notions when they’re associated with the likes of Hemingway, van Gogh, Toulouse-Lautrec, Coleridge or Dickens. Indeed, these kinds of excesses have become synonymous with those who are considered creative …
Film Review: Scribe
There are very few, if any, male actors of a certain age, working in French cinema today, with a reputation as strong as François Cluzet. Whilst he found national fame, and won a César, for Untouchable, he’s been making quality films from decades. His best work, Tell No One and Little White Lies, are two …
Blu-Ray Review: Security
The ‘80s was the decade of the action star. Muscles, mumbling and machine guns dominated a huge market which saw the likes of Arnold Schwarzenegger and Sylvester Stallone become major movie stars. However, arguably the greatest action film from the decade was Die Hard. Bruce Willis played an average guy who just happens to be …
Blu-Ray Review: Headshot
When Tony Jaa literally put his neck on the line in Ong Back, a new breed of bone-breaking action cinema was born. Jaa followed his success with Warrior King and their sequels. In 2011 The Raid arrived, proving whatever Thai cinema could do Indonesia can more than match. Raid 2 cemented that reputation. Two of …
Film Review: After the Storm
Whilst modern Japan might be a country known for its work ethic and bizarre sub-cultures, it has always maintained a staunch emphasis on family. Yasujirō Ozu, whose specialised in quiet family dramas, was one of the greatest directors of his generation. In a similar vein, Hirokazu Koreeda’s work focusses on inter-generational connections. Following-on from the …
Film Review: Gleason
As anyone who has spent five days in a dark room at a documentary film festival will attest, it can be extremely gruelling experience. Whilst death is never far from the screen, it’s those who live and endure suffering who leave the profoundest impact on me. This is definitely the case with Clay Tweel’s new …
Film Review: Catfight
One of the major devices in action films is pitching two characters head-to-head. Man to Man. Mono e mono. Whether it’s Face/Off, Terminator 2, Universal Soldier, Batman vs Superman or Tom and Jerry, there’s something which captures the human imagination in a battle between two combatants for dominance. It has been an almost entirely macho …
Film Review: Magnus
Despite having somewhat of a stigma as a pursuit for ‘nerds’ or ‘dweebs’, chess has maintained a status somewhere between a sport and board game. Grandmasters are treated as celebrities and the World Chess Championship attracts huge media attention. It’s also a documentary favourite, producing Searching for Bobby Fischer, Game Over: Kasparov and the Machine …
Film Review: Cosmos
Mainstream, unoriginal and tired, not three words you could ever use in relation to the films of Andrzej Zulwaski. The Polish director has been confounding, confusing and surprising since his first film, The Third Part of the Night, back in 1971. By far and away his most well-known film is Possession, which stars Isabelle Adjani. …
Film Review: Backtrack
After seeing the marketing behind Michael Petroni’s new film Backtrack you could be forgiven for assuming that it’s a horror or thriller. Despite a few early ‘jumps’, Backtrack is more of a creepy psychological drama, with a crime angle thrown in. It’s another impressive example of the films coming out of Australia at the moment. …