Second Run
Blu-Ray Review: Love
During the Cold War, communist states were great supporters of their filmmakers. As long as they were telling stories which aligned with their ideology, that is. Writers and directors regularly walked a tightrope between individuality and prison. This reflected daily life for ordinary citizens. Living in a society where anyone could be an informer and …
Blu-Ray Review: Coach to Vienna
Wars are not merely a simple case of good versus evil. While leaders like Hitler and Stalin might have been rotten to the core, soldiers are often there against their own will. Either conscripted into an army or forced to serve. History likes to tie events up in nice bows but anyone placed in a …
Blu-Ray Review: The Devil’s Trap
It seems a bizarre thing to say in the third decade of the twenty-first century, but the debate between evolution and creationism still seems to tax feeble minds. The friction between religion and science has been rumbling on for centuries. The former often used as a means of social control while the latter has been …
Blu-ray review: Hungarian Masters
Despite the political and economic factors which have blighted its film industry over the decades, Hungary has always been a powerhouse of Eastern European cinema. Since the dawn of the twentieth century, the country has produced a number of notable personalities who’ve had a huge influence on domestic and world cinema. However, most of its …
Blu-ray Review: Celia
While the Cold War pitted the United States of America against the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics, its influence spread to every corner of the world. One of the more unlikely battlegrounds was Australia. The Communist Party of Australia was formed in the 1920s, reached their political peak during World War II, were banned in …
Blu-Ray Review: The Lighthouse
There’s nothing little Englanders like more than to reference ‘the war’. Indeed, this has always been the case and martial language has seeped into many aspects of our daily lives. Used by populist politicians as a dog whistle to imbue people with a sense of nationalistic pride. Conflict is often glamorised on our screens, although …
Blu-Ray Review: Beauty and the Beast
In the West, much of our knowledge of fairy tales comes courtesy of Disney. This is undoubtedly the case with Beauty and the Beast, their 1991 version of Belle and the Beast’s story becoming a box office smash and popular favourite. Replacing the critically acclaimed Jean Cocteau version from decades earlier. However, this is only …
Blu-Ray Review: Adoption
On the face of it, communism doesn’t exactly seem like the ideal breeding ground for feminism to flourish. Whilst everyone was theoretically equal in the USSR, many rich old white men were more equal than other. The narrative pushed by the authorities was that of the heroic Marxist worker, dedicating their life to making the …
Blu-ray Review: Tomorrow I’ll Wake Up and Scald Myself with Tea
One of the more fascinating aspects of the Third Reich was Adolph Hitler’s obsession with scientific progression. Whether that’s is the realm of warfare or the less pleasant areas of genetics. It’s a facet of the Fuhrer’s policy which still features heavily in popular culture, whether that’s in video game series like Wolfenstein or films …
Blu-Ray Review: Goodbye, Dragon Inn
Like many people reading this review, I’ve had a love affair with cinema for most of my life. It’s never been just about the films, it’s the whole experience. From arriving in the foyer, to entering the screen. The ads (sadly). The trailers. The whole kit and kaboodle. There’s nothing quite like it. It’s a …