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 […]
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 […]
