Hot on the heels of Eureka’s Masters of Cinema release of Early Universal Vol 1 in August comes this second volume from the vaults of the 110-year-old Hollywood studio, featuring one of its earliest productions, an epic adaptation of Jules Verne’s 20,000 Leagues Under the Sea from 1916, alongside 1925 […]
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.
Almost Liverpool 8 (2021) A Love Letter to a Postcode (Review)
In this documentary film, the writer Ronnie Hughes remarks “I’m not particularly interested in history…I’m more interested in what it tells us about how people live, and how is it now, and what is the history of now that we can turn into the future” So let’s get the history […]
The Sabata Trilogy (1969-71) For a Few Sequels More (Review)
The Western has been around as long as Hollywood. It stands to reason I guess that, when looking to tell tales on the big screen with this new medium of cinema, many American filmmakers looked towards the history of their homeland. However, by the 1960s Hollywood’s rendition of the Wild […]
Early Universal Vol 1: Skinner’s Dress Suit/The Shield of Honor/The Shakedown (1926-1929)(Review)
Released to Blu-ray on Eureka’s Masters of Cinema last month, Early Universal Vol 1 is a boxset celebrating the legendary studio’s formative years with three beautifully restored silent features. Each film feels carefully chosen to represent the breadth and variety of features made during the silent era; the domestic comedy […]
Walk on the Wild Side (1962) More Like Walk on the Mild Side (Review)
Released to Blu-ray by Arrow Video on the 6th of this month, Walk on the Wild Side is certainly a film with a good pedigree. Based on a novel by Nelson Algren published six years earlier, it is directed by Edward Dmytryk, the Canadian-born American filmmaker who had a very […]
The Bingo Long Traveling All-Stars & Motor Kings (1976) Playing Ball With Motown Productions (Review)
When we think of Motown, we inevitably think of that glorious back catalogue of music – the mainstay of many a party or get together. What we don’t think of, is cinema. Nevertheless, Motown supremo Berry Gordy Jr launched Motown Productions in 1968, hopeful that he could corner the market […]
Jagged Edge (1985) The’80s Neo-Noir that Pre-empts Basic Instinct (Review)
The 1980s saw the return of noir in Hollywood. Heralded as the neo-noir, these films revelled in their adult thriller status, creating sub-genres such as the yuppie in peril movie and the erotic thriller. It was arguably Lawrence Kasdan’s 1981 movie Body Heat that kickstarted the whole revival, making stars […]
Bringing Up Baby (1938) I Can’t Give You Anything But Love (Review)
Released to Blu-ray on the Criterion label this week is Bringing Up Baby, the 1938 romantic farce starring Cary Grant and Katherine Hepburn that is still today fondly regarded as one of the best and most pivotal examples of the screwball comedy genre. It tells the story of Dr David […]
Beauty and the Beast (1978) A Grim Fairytale (Review)
The film opens in a mist-shrouded, decaying forest. A band of grimy-looking travellers on horseback, pulling covered wagons are traversing this ominous terrain, accompanied only by the forbidding sounds of the wild. One in their number, a female, anxiously announces that danger will befall them if they continue – but […]
Adoption (1975) A Personal Film from an Unsung Female Director (Review)
Released to Blu-ray by Second Run this week is Adoption, or Örökbefogadás to give it its native Hungarian title. A 1975 film from director Márta Mészáros, it tells the story of Kata (Katelin Berek), a forty-three-year-old factory worker embroiled in a longing-standing love affair with a married man, Jóska (László […]