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Monday, May 26, 2025
New REVIEWS!
Andor Season 2 (2025) Round-up: Star Wars’ hard-to-swallow epic is just what fans needed
The Railroad Man (1956) A Year in the Life of a Working Class Family
Themroc (1973) The Urban Caveman and the Red Triangle
Strange New Worlds: Science Fiction at DEFA (1960 to 1976) Socialism Among the Stars
Sinners (2025) A Must See Theatre Experience
Oil Lamps (1971) Juraj Herz’s dazzling and decadent psycho-sexual period piece
Doctor Who (2025) Lucky Day: An Average Start That Reveals A Sublime and Timely Message (SPOILERS)
Night Moves (1975) Gene Hackman’s Memorable 70’s Thriller Comes to 4K
Tokyo Pop (1988) The Lost Gen-X Cult Classic Gets Its Moment
Freaky Tales (2024): High on Style, Inconsistent on Substance
The Magnificent Trio (1966) & Magnificent Wanderers (1977) Unearthing the Bookends of Chang Cheh’s Wuxia Reign
A Woman of Paris (1923) Chaplin’s First Drama Film Falls Short 
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  • Mark Cunliffe

Mark Cunliffe

Senior Contributor Mark's first cinematic experience was watching the Cannon and Ball vehicle, The Boys in Blue. He hasn't looked back since. Hailing from Lancashire, he is an occasional contributor to Arrow DVD, writing booklet inlay essays on a variety of titles, including Children of Men and The Great Escape. He has also written a chapter for Ste Brotherstone and Dave Lawrence's book, Scarred For Life Vol II. He is often found on Letterboxd, has appeared on the Talking Pictures podcast and also writes for We Are Cult, Horrified, America's left-leaning news outlet ZNetwork, and the fanzine Undefined Boundary: The Journal of Psychick Albion. He is also a regular contributor to the Geek Show's podcasts, including Pop Screen and the Uncut series.
  • Movies & Documentaries
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The Railroad Man (1956) A Year in the Life of a Working Class Family

Mark Cunliffe 20/05/2025
The Railroad Man (1956) A Year in the Life of a Working Class Family

The second Radiance release this week is Pietro Germi’s 1956 film The Railroad Man, or Il ferroviere in its native Italian. As well as directing and having a hand in the screenplay, Germi also stars in the lead role of Andrea Marcocci, the train operator of the title and patriarch of a working-class […]

  • Movies & Documentaries
  • Reviews

Themroc (1973) The Urban Caveman and the Red Triangle

Mark Cunliffe 19/05/2025
Themroc (1973) The Urban Caveman and the Red Triangle

Released to Radiance this week is Claude Faraldo’s notorious 1973 French satire, Themroc, a film that gained its notoriety here in the UK on account of it being the first film broadcast in Channel 4’s Red Triangle season on 19th September 1986. The Red Triangle season was the informal title […]

  • Movies & Documentaries
  • Reviews

Rulers of the City (1976) Light-Hearted Revenge Based Eurocrime

Mark Cunliffe 24/03/2025
Rulers of the City (1976) Light-Hearted Revenge Based Eurocrime

Released on Blu-ray this week by Radiance and Raro Video is Rulers of the City – an Italian Euro Crime/Poliziotteschi offering from 1976 by director Fernando Di Leo. The filmmaker had already provided the genre with staples such as Caliber 9 (1972), The Italian Connection (1972), The Boss (1973), and […]

  • Movies & Documentaries

Drugstore Cowboy (1989) A Cool and Contemplative Study of Addiction

Mark Cunliffe 13/03/2025
Drugstore Cowboy (1989) A Cool and Contemplative Study of Addiction

Drugstore Cowboy, Gus Van Sant’s second feature, is released as a dual Blu-Ray and UHD by the Criterion Collection this week. A great success on its release back in 1989, the film is widely regarded as reviving the career of Matt Dillon, who takes the lead here as the charismatic, […]

  • Movies & Documentaries
  • Reviews

Chantal Akerman Collection Vol 1(1967-1978) Temporal Boundaries and Liminal Spaces

Mark Cunliffe 27/02/2025
Chantal Akerman Collection Vol 1(1967-1978) Temporal Boundaries and Liminal Spaces

When it comes to cineastes, the name of Chantal Akerman carries a lot of weight and respect. Despite this, however, up until this month, I had never seen a single film of hers. So, when the BFI announced a limited five-Blu-ray boxset release of fourteen landmark films from her first […]

  • Movies & Documentaries

Golem (1979) “Is This The Real Life? Is This Just Fantasy?”

Mark Cunliffe 24/02/2025
Golem (1979) “Is This The Real Life? Is This Just Fantasy?”

Released to Blu-ray by Second Run this week, Golem was the astonishing debut of Polish sci-fi auteur Piotr Szulkin. Based on the eponymous mythical clay-made creature of Jewish folklore and, specifically, Austrian author Gustav Meyrink’s 1915 novel Der Golem, the film stars Marek Walczewski and Krystyna Janda, Szulkin’s high school […]

  • Movies & Documentaries
  • Reviews

The Cat (1988) An Impressive Heist Thriller From 80s Germany (Review)

Mark Cunliffe 24/02/2025
The Cat (1988) An Impressive Heist Thriller From 80s Germany (Review)

Coming to Blu-ray this week is Die Katze aka The Cat, an extremely impressive, tense heist thriller from 1988 starring Götz George as a criminal mastermind who, from a hotel room across the street, not only orchestrates a bank robbery conducted by two colleagues but also monitors the police’s investigation, […]

  • Movies & Documentaries
  • Reviews

Il Posto + I Fidanzati (1961/1963) Love and Work; the Original Four Letter Words

Mark Cunliffe 28/01/2025
Il Posto + I Fidanzati (1961/1963) Love and Work; the Original Four Letter Words

Following Weak Spot, Radiance’s second release of the week is a double bill from the acclaimed Italian neorealist filmmaker Ermanno Olmi. The set comprises two of his earliest features, 1961’s Il Posto and 1963’s I Fidanzati, each of whose themes are the original four-letter words—love and work—and Italy’s post-war industrialization […]

  • Movies & Documentaries
  • Reviews

Weak Spot (1975) Part paranoid thriller, part curious buddy movie

Mark Cunliffe 27/01/2025
Weak Spot (1975) Part paranoid thriller, part curious buddy movie

Radiance once again does admirable work this week, salvaging yet another classic piece of 70s European cinema from unfair obscurity. The Blu-ray release in question is Weak Spot, a 1975 co-production between France, Italy, and Germany, shot in Greece by director Peter Fleischmann. The film is based on a 1965 […]

  • Movies & Documentaries
  • Reviews

Mikey and Nicky (1976): Little Boys in Big Boys Games

Mark Cunliffe 13/01/2025
Mikey and Nicky (1976): Little Boys in Big Boys Games

Coming to Blu-ray courtesy of the Criterion Collection from 13th January is Elaine May’s 1976 gangster movie Mikey and Nicky. Starring regular collaborators John Cassavetes and Peter Falk, May’s movie capitalises on the pair’s natural chemistry, lending great authenticity to their roles of lifelong friends. Set over the course of […]

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