A quote from Søren Kierkegaard – don’t worry, this gets funny soon – kept coming to mind as I watched Oldřich Lipský’s Happy End, now released on Blu-Ray for the first time by Second Run. The Danish philosopher said “It is really true what philosophy tells us, that life must […]
Satire
Black God, White Devil (1964) – An Unforgettable Brazilian Classic (Review)
Elegant Beast (1962) – A Capitalist Nightmare in Post-war Japan
Lost in the Night (2023): the environmental thriller too pulpy for Cannes? (Review)
Barcelona-born Mexican director Amat Escalante made his name internationally when he won Best Director at the 2013 Cannes Film Festival for Heli – a slow, unflinching film that posited cartel violence and police brutality becoming mutually supportive forces. It drew plaudits, but also some accusations of feeding into American preconceptions […]
Faceless After Dark (Grimmfest 2023)(Review)
Interrogation (1982): merciless, Kafkaesque, a two-hour pressure cooker (Blu-Ray Review)
There aren’t many home media releases where a highlight of the additional features is the transcript of a government meeting. But then, there aren’t many films with a history like Ryszard Bugajski’s Interrogation, released on Blu-Ray by Second Run. Second Run have previously released this film on DVD, but that […]
T Blockers (Frightfest 2023)(Review)
Alice Maio Mackay is a horror phenomenon. At 18 years old she has already directed three genre features in the span of three years, with another two pictures in post-production at the time of writing. More importantly, she’s an out-and-proud transgender woman who isn’t afraid to let the world know […]
O.C. and Stiggs (1987): What Did I Just Watch? (Review)
Radiance continues its run of unearthing movies that have spent too long neglected and in the shadows. What is usually the case with Radiance, is that these movies are European, foreign language productions. Not so this week, were they have dusted down two Hollywood movies from a rightly much acclaimed […]
Fists in the Pocket (1965): A Disquieting, Macabre Satire of Family Values and Catholic Morality (Review)
Okja (2017): Superpig In the City (Review)
Originally released on Netflix, Bong Joon-Ho’s Okja is the second of a trilogy of films that launched his name recognition in the West, with Snowpiercer and the Oscar-winning Parasite on either side of it. Like the former, there is a strong Western presence with a cast including Tilda Swinton, Paul […]