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 […]
DVD: Night Gallery (1969 – 73) Night Gallery, hosted by The Twilight Zone’s Rob Serling was an American anthology series that aired on American television from 1969 to 1973, and not unlike The Twilight Zone it told of stories of horror and of the macabre. Serling served both as the on-air host of Night Gallery and as a major […]
DVD: National Treasure (2016) If ever there was the perfect time for a programme like National Treasure it’s right now. As I write (Oct 2016) Donald Trump has been vilified for his misogynistic treatment of women (Pussygate) and Welsh footballer Ched Evans, convicted of rape and released after 2 year in prison, only last week […]
Blu-ray: Body Double (1984) Jake Scully, an actor who suffers from claustrophobia, house-sits for a friend in his amazingly huge and expensive house. Part of the ‘deal’ is he can spy on his neighbour who likes to ‘get off’ by doing naked sexy dancing with all the lights on across the road. Now I want […]
DVD: The Keeping Room (2014) Two adult sisters (Brit Marling and Hailee Steinfield) and their (ex) slave (Muna Otaru) try to survive in an almost post-apocalyptic barren landscape during the American Civil war. I suppose one could call this a ‘revisionist western’, one that would hold hands with Meek’s Cutoff, The Beguiled and Cold Mountain. However, […]
DVD: Prince Regent (1979) Prince Regent from 1979 tells the story of George IV of Britain. In brief; George was the eldest son of George III and Queen Charlotte. The Hanoverian kings were notorious for having bad relations with their heirs, and George III and his son were no exception. George’s extravagant, and dissolute lifestyle caused his […]
DVD: The Legend of King Arthur (1979) Written by the BBC’s ‘go to’ history scribe Andrew Davies, and starring Emmerdale’s Andrew Burt as King Arthur, this series was shown on BBC1 in 1979. I (surprisingly) have no memory of it. It tells the iconic story of Arthur, how his mother was taken by Uther Pendragon […]
DVD: Bella Mafia (1997) Sicilian Mafiosi Don Luciano (Dennis Farina) and his wife Graziella (Vanessa Redgrave) live in Sicily. Their son Michael (Michael Hayden) has an affair with Sophia (Nastassja Kinski), leaving her pregnant but unmarried. After Luciano refuses to traffic drugs, American mob boss Carolla (Tony Lo Bianco) has Michael killed. Based on Lynda […]
Blu-ray: Bowfinger (1999) Has-been actor and now film producer Bobby Bowfinger (Steve Martin) has $2,184 and a script; Chubby Rain. All he needs is a star, one particular star; Kit Ramsey (Eddie Murphy) to be in his movie. With the aid of several friends; Kit’s look-alike brother Jiff (Eddie Murphy again) and an unsuspecting alien-fearing Kit, he begins […]
Blu-ray: The Importance of Being Ernest (1952) The film opens and closes with a brief ‘reminder’ that we are in a theatre watching a production of the play – and not a film. Based on Oscar Wilde’s final play (the initial production in the late 1800’s of which was infamously sabotaged by allegations of Wilde’s […]
