DVD & Digital: Enslaved (2020)What a strange programme Enslaved is. I was hoping for an in-depth exploration of the journey and let’s be honest, torture, of the human slave trade from Africa. But what transpires is a very uneven ‘sort of’ history programme that is mainly about diving for evidence of slave ships. Made by […]
Cinema & Digital: The Reckoning (2020)After watching the trailer for Neil Marshall’s new movie The Reckoning, I was expecting something along the lines of Hagazussa or even Robert Eggers The Witch. But alas no, the promise of witches and huge devils rampaging through the English countryside during the Plague of 1665 is trailer-only fodder. I […]
Blu-ray: The Head Hunter (2018)Before watching The Head Hunter I read a few reviews of this independent ‘made on a low budget’ shortish film. Clocking in at 70 minutes, a lot of comments by viewers can be condensed into ‘It’s a bit too long’ and ‘it needs to be 30 minutes long’.Hmmm I thought, this does […]
Blu-ray: Raw (2016)What an amazing first feature for director Julia Ducournau. Released in 2016, Raw is one of those films that seem to be sent from movie heaven it’s that good.It’s a coming of age story about Justine (Garance Marillier), a clever and somewhat sullen and spoilt second daughter of a strict vegetarian family.Justine begins to attend the […]
The Barcelona Vampiress (2020)The Barcelona Vampiress is based on the amazingly true story of Enriqueta Martí i Ripollés (1868 – 1913) he supposed ‘Spanish child serial killer’ who kidnapped, then prostituted an unknown number of children. The film itself is extremely stylised, the set design is purposely claustrophobic and graphic comic in look and is rather Terry Gilliam-esque in […]
Blu-ray: The Criminal Code (1930)The Criminal Code, based on the play by Martin Flavin, was originally produced on Broadway in 1929, and the great Boris Karloff, who appeared in the stage play, is recast here as Galloway, giving him his first noticeable role after being mostly cast in bit parts.Notably, the film is the first of Hawks’ four […]
Written and directed by David Mamet, Things Change is one of those ‘hidden gem’ movies Powerhouse Films excel at releasing under their Indicator series of releases. Gino (Don Ameche) is a quiet, considered older Italian shoe-shiner working in a repair shop in Chicago. He’s poor, lives alone, minds his own business, and gets on with life.One […]
Blu-ray: 20th Century (1934)Interestingly, 20th Century has nothing whatsoever to do with time or the studio. It is in fact, a train. The film is based on ‘Napoleon of Broadway’, a very successful play by Charles Bruce Millholland about his experiences in working for the legendary Broadway producer. This screwball comedy film directed by the great Howard Hawks and starring John Barrymore and Carole […]
DVD: The Constant Gardner (2005)The Constant Gardener, based on John le Carré’s 2001 novel of the same name, is one of those ‘well made’ British films, starring really good actors that tell a solid story about a terrible wrong that is eventually righted.Told partly in flashback, Justin Quayle (Ralph Fiennes) is a shy, quiet British diplomat in […]
Digital Platforms: Rams (2020)A remake of Grímur Hákonarson’s 2015 Icelandic film also called Rams, this is the story of 2 Australian outback brothers: the more affable Colin (Sam Neil) who tells his sheep daily how beautiful they are, and the pissed, miserable, disliked Les (Michael Caton), who despite more or less living side by side […]
