Dear Mr. Geek Show, I accept the fact that I had to sacrifice a whole Saturday in detention for whatever it was I did wrong. But I think you’re crazy to make me write an essay telling you why I think The Breakfast Club is one of the greatest films […]
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 St Helens, 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 is a reviewer with IndieMDB and has also written a chapter for Ste Brotherstone and Dave Lawrence's book, Scarred For Life Vol II. Other sites he has written for include We Are Cult, Horrified, and America's left-leaning news outlet ZNetwork. Publications he has written articles for include Stat Magazine 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, and he can be found on Letterboxd.
The Working Class Goes to Heaven (1971): Work is Hell (Review)
A new year brings a new Blu-ray distributor in the shape of Radiance Films whose first slate of releases includes The Working Class Goes to Heaven, Elio Petri’s brilliant 1971 polemic on totalitarian capitalism and the post-war Italian ‘Economic Miracle’, released January 2nd. The film reunites Petri with Gian Maria […]
The War Trilogy: Three Films by Andrzej Wajda (1955/1958) War is Hell (Review)
An impressive boxset from Second Run arrives just in time for Christmas – it’s the renowned War Trilogy from Polish director Andrzej Wajda consisting of three films – A Generation, Kanal and Ashes and Diamonds – released between 1955 and 1958 which established Wajda as a founding father of the […]
Croupier (1998): Hold on Tightly, Let Go Lightly (Blu-Ray Review)
Uunnnngh, how sexy is Kate Hardie? OK, now I’ve got that out of my system for the umpteenth time, we can begin… Released to Blu-ray by Arrow Video this month comes Croupier, the film that afforded Get Carter director Mike Hodges a brief resurgence at the turn of the century […]
Dragon’s Return (Drak sa Vracia) 1968: Pure Cinematic Storytelling (Blu-Ray Review)
“A jaw-dropping masterpiece, an exercise in pure cinematic storytelling that captivates, enchants and terrifies in each scene” Yes, it would be remiss of me not to point out that this quote from The Geek Show‘s Graham Williamson adorns the cover of the latest Blu-ray release from Second Run, the 1968 […]
Love (Szerelem) (1971) Fragmented Visions and Fabrications (Blu-Ray Review)
Released to Blu-ray this week by Second Run is the 1971 Cannes Jury Prize-winning Hungarian film Love (or Szerelem, to give it its title in its native tongue) Directed by acclaimed Hungarian filmmaker Károly Makk and based on two short stories by his fellow countryman, the renowned author Tibor Déry, Love […]
Umberto D (1952) I’m Not Crying OK? It’s Just Something In My Eye (Review)
Released to Criterion this week is Umberto D., Vittorio De Sica’s classic film about a pensioner who struggles to make ends meet in an economically-ravaged Italy in the post-war years. A retired civil servant, the ageing Umberto is determined to keep his dignity as he navigates a series of challenges […]
Desire (1958)/All My Good Countrymen (1968); Two Films by Vojtěch Jasný (Review)
Second Run are really spoiling us this week. This two-disc release may claim to be ‘Two films by Vojtěch Jasný, but it is in fact four; alongside the main features, 1958’s Desire (Touha, in its native Czech) and All My Good Countrymen (aka Všichni dobří rodáci) from a decade later, […]
Manifesto (2022) Forlorn yet unbowed (Cinema Review)
Manifesto, currently doing the rounds in selected cinemas, is the final instalment in the Hope Trilogy from Liverpudlian director Daniel Draper. The previous films in this series included the Dennis Skinner documentary Nature of the Beast and The Big Meeting, a documentary about the Durham Miners Gala. Slotted neatly in […]
True Things (2021) Looking for Love in all the Wrong Places (Blu-ray Review)
Director Harry Wootliff’s new film, released to Blu-ray this week by Picturehouse Entertainment is True Things, an adaptation of the acclaimed 2010 novel by Deborah Kay Davies, True Things About Me. It stars Ruth Wilson (who is also on producing duties with fellow thesp Jude Law) and Tom Burke and […]