DVD: Donnie Darko (2001) I normally like to start my reviews off with a little synopsis, just to get you in the mood. However, sometimes this is impossible, either because any information about this film will give the plot away or, as in the case of Donnie Darko, not only would I give the plot […]
Blu-ray: Fright Night (1985) When Charley Brewster’s (William Ragsdale) new neighbours move in next door, their strange behaviour leads him to believe they could be…vampires. Made two years before The Lost Boys, Tom Holland’s first film is for me, the first true tweeny ‘aware of itself’ cult-horror. Although this is definitely deeply rooted in the […]
Blu-ray: To Sir, with Love (1967) Mark Thackery (Sidney Poitier); a black man from British Guyana, teaches at an inner city school in London hoping he will get a ‘real’ job in engineering. His class are disruptive, disenfranchised 15 year olds ready to leave school and get a job. Can he win them over and […]
Blu-ray: Two Women (1960) Italy in World War 2, widowed Cesira (Sophia Loren) leaves Rome with her devoutly religious daughter Rosetta when the city comes under attack by Allied forces. The pair escape to a small village, where they meet various people including Jean-Paul Belmondo’s Michele Di Libero. Throughout Sophia Loren’s career she’s made some cracking […]
Blu-ray: Magnum P.I. – The Complete Collection (1980-88) When faced with the entire 37 disc 8 season collection of Magnum, P.I. there’s only way to approach it; in an imaginary Hawaiian shirt and a cheeky grin. Fabulous Films have produced a corking set; every episode looks like it was filmed yesterday. So how do I […]
A few years back I caused a bit of a Twitter storm with a review of Wales Comic Con. I try to be ‘nice’ in reviews but am always aware that when I read a review I want the truth, good and bad. I am also a geek (yes it IS possible to be ‘old’ […]
Blu-ray: The World at War (1973) There are certain documentary television series that made an impact on me as a kid: Kenneth Clark’s Civilisation, Carl Sagan’s Cosmos, and The World at War. My father, born in 1934 and interested in WW1 and WW2 would sit and watch, and I vividly remember sitting with him, hearing […]
Blu-ray: Kes (1969) Little Billy Casper; poor, working class and always in trouble with the police, finds a Kestral and trains it. Bullied by the lads at school, tortured by the PE teacher, abused by his older brother and his mum (well she doesn’t give a shit about him) Billy knows his future is down […]
DVD: The Fall (2013 – ) The beauty of Allan Cubitt’s The Fall is the backbone of all great television; the arc the characters live through and the unravelling of motives and actions that are subtle, and take time, but in the end allow the viewer to make sense of what’s happened. Over 3 series […]
DVD: A Special Day (1977) Set in Rome on the historic day in 1938 when Benito Mussolini and the city rolled out the red carpet for Adolf Hitler, A Special Day takes place entirely in a working class apartment building, where an unexpected friendship begins between Antoineietta and Gabriele. They are an unlikely pair of people […]
