Before we begin, I feel as though my review must be prefaced with a trigger warning; Repulsion is not exactly light viewing. As you may know, Repulsion was directed by the Academy Award-winning filmmaker Roman Polanski, a man whose directorial back-catalogue contains some of the most celebrated examples of the […]
criterion collection
Mystery Train (1989) A Trip to Memphis, With or Without Rose Tinted Glasses (Review)
Mystery Train was director Jim Jarmusch’s 4th film and his first since his low-budget debut, Permanent Vacation, to be shot in colour. His previous two were strikingly shot in black and white, which suggests that Jarmusch wished to visually capture Memphis in the best way that he could. Despite being […]
Wanda (1970) A Glimpse of the Real New Hollywood? (Review)
April 17th sees the release to the Criterion Collection of Wanda, the first and only feature film from Barbara Loden, actor and wife of Elia Kazan. A landmark in US cinema’s independent movement, Wanda is set in the unglamorous sooty surroundings of eastern Pennsylvania’s industrial heartlands and features a central […]
Imitation of Life (1934) Thematically poignant pre-code romance succumbs to padding (Review)
America’s cinematic landscape drastically changed in 1934 with the introduction of the oppressive and controlling Hays Code, a set of strict censorship rules that dictated what studio films could show on-screen. The code enforced traditional catholic family values, reduced sexually explicit content and, amongst many other things, always ensured the […]
Vivre Sa vie (1962): Godard, the ultimate cinephile, makes his most emotional film (Blu-Ray Review)
Which film director best exemplifies cinephilia? For many people today, the answer would be Quentin Tarantino, who’s just published a book giving his personal take on film history, Cinema Speculation. For Godard – who was less than flattered by Tarantino naming his production company after Godard’s 1964 film Bande a […]
The Adventures of Baron Munchausen (1988) Wacky 1980’s Terry Gilliam Fun (Review)
The Breakfast Club (1985): Not only the quintessential 80s teen movie but also the finest teen movie ever
Mississippi Masala (1991): cross-culture romance with a young Denzel Washington (Review)
Infernal Affairs Trilogy (2002/3) A Significant if flawed Film Trilogy (Blu-Ray Review)
In 2002, the producing-writing-directing team Andrew Lau Wai-Keung and Alan Mak released Infernal Affairs, a distinctive crime thriller that exploded across Hong Kong cinemas and had a worldwide impact. The film garnered multiple awards including Best Film at the 22nd Hong Kong Film Awards and Film of Merit at the […]
The Power of the Dog (2021) An inspirational Western for those with the patience to ride with it (Blu-Ray Review)
The word “literary” stalks descriptions of Jane Campion’s work like “quirky” does Wes Anderson’s, so let’s top-and-tail this review of Criterion’s Blu-Ray of her most recent film with some book talk. The most pleasingly unexpected extra here is an interview with Annie Proulx, who mentions getting a letter from The […]