Generational gaps are the essence of this depressing run-through of Armenian warfare. The Lighthouse adapts the distance of family and the wasteful nature of death around characters who are doing what they feel is best. That difficulty to connect a younger age group to the seniors is as frustrating as it is […]
Ewan Gleadow
…And the Fifth Horseman is Fear (1964) A brutal portrait of fear under an occupying regime (Review)
Fear pries at the beautifully illustrated characters within this Zbyněk Brynych feature. …And the Fifth Horseman is Fear contemplates the agony and unilateral terror present in Nazi-occupied Czechoslovakia. There is no respite for the glum halls, the dark and brooding cinematography makes sure of that. This 1960s Brynych piece contemplates the impact […]
Raw (2016) Raw in subtext & execution in all the right ways (Review)
Do animal lovers prevent themselves from eating meat because they love animals? There is a scene early into Raw that says otherwise. Justine (Garance Miller), a lifelong vegetarian, could not care less for animals. She is disgusted by the presence, the shedding hair, and the presumed stench of a dog in close […]
I Was at Home, But… (2019) A Reserved, Existentialist Euro-Drama (Review)
Existentialism is often considered a crisis. When an individual thinks about their life and it’s meaning, impossible questions are posed. It is a common recurrence for those, like me, who have no idea what they are doing with themselves, their lives or their emotions. I Was at Home, But… the award-winning film […]
Tomorrow I’ll Wake Up and Scald Myself with Tea(1977) A fantastic, vicious attack on the modern age of serious science fiction (Review)
Opening with a blend of orchestral beauty and vague pangs of Kool & The Gang, Tomorrow I’ll Wake Up and Scald Myself with Tea, from director Jindřich Polák, shows off its frivolous, light-hearted antics immediately. Pairing this high quality, era-defining funk with reversed and repetitive footage of soulless vermin Adolf Hitler, the […]
Rolling Thunder Revue (2019) One for the Martin Scorsese & Bob Dylan completists (Review)
Having one of the greatest film directors of all time engage with a titillating period from one of the greatest musicians to have ever lived is quite a remarkable premise. Such a meeting of great minds should bring about moving and influential art, musing on the highs and lows of […]
Goodbye Dragon Inn (2003) A beautiful swan song for a fictional picture house (Review)
I’m sure for many it’s been quite some time since we’ve been able to step foot into a cinema of any kind. A sad shame, but we can replicate the experience at home somewhat. For me, I put a Bluetooth speaker behind me that plays people loudly whispering for two […]
Girlfriends (1978) an agonising, engaging dive into the dark reality of the artist’s breadline (Review)
Living with your friends is an odd experience. You get to see their most intimate, unguarded selves. I can only imagine the horrors I have presented to those I have lived with throughout my days as a University student. I once tried to hoover up a spider whilst drunk, and […]
Dawn of the Dead (1978) A guiding light of the zombie genre (Review)
I remember being underwhelmed by my first encounter with George A. Romero’s Dawn of the Dead. With a need to see if I was the problem, my ulterior motives for reviewing this re-release from Second Sight was that, hopefully, my confounded outlook on what I had deemed the weakest entrance […]
Topsy-Turvy (1999) Mike Leigh’s chaotic ode to the theatre (Review)
Art is (probably) dead. Years from now, when future generations look back on our cultural offerings, I feel like they’ll be underwhelmed. Perhaps I’m just being crude and narrow-minded, but the glory days of innovation and experimentation are long behind us. It’s why so many films set themselves in periods […]