Blu-ray, DVD & Digital: Austin Powers – International Man of Mystery (1997)The problem with writing a review of a hugely popular film like Austin Powers: International Man of Mystery is… most film fans have seen it. So you’re just re-treading old water. The test is, after 24 years, is it still funny? Made by ex-Saturday […]
Blu-ray: Carla’s Song (1996) Set in 1987, Carla’s Song tells the story of the love affair between Glaswegian bus driver George Lennox (Robert Carlyle) and Carla (Oyanka Cabezas), a beautiful, homeless, Nicaraguan refugee living in Glasgow. This is a film of two halves. The first part takes place in Glasgow where George meets Carla, follows […]
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 […]
Dual Format Blu-ray & DVD: County Lines (2019)14 year old Tyler (Conrad Khan) does his best to look after his younger sister while his single mother sleeps through the day after working night shifts, or while she recovers from an all night partying session on her nights off.With few creature comforts surrounding him, and things […]
Blu-ray: I Start Counting (1969)The basic premise of I Start Counting is that a psychotic killer is abducting and murdering young girls in a village, but this is akin to saying that The Shining is about a scary hotel, there are many more layers to it than that.Wynne (Jenny Agutter) is a 14 year old […]
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: Tales From the Urban Jungle – Brute Force (1947), The Naked City (1948)Tales From the Urban Jungle showcases 2 movies from writer, director, producer and actor Jules Dassin, a man who was blacklisted in the communist witch hunts of the House Un-American Activities.Brute Force stars Burt Lancaster as Joe Collins, a prisoner squeezed into an […]
Blu-ray: Clapboard Jungle (2020)Many people have watched a movie that they haven’t enjoyed and said “I can do better than that”, little knowing just how difficult it is to get a movie made in the first place.Clapboard Jungle gives you a little taste of the trials and tribulations involved, as independent filmmaker Justin McConnell chronicles 5 years […]
Blu-ray: Silent Action (1975) Various Italian government officials are seemingly committing suicide under mysterious circumstances, and it’s left to inspector Giorgio Solmi (Luc Merenda) to try and get to the bottom of what is happening. His investigations lead him to a prostitute who is linked with a murder, but he soon finds out that this […]
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 […]