It’s perhaps interesting to watch Under Fire in the week that British charity Comic Relief has announced its plan to cut back on celebrity appeals in the wake of what has become known as the ‘white saviour’ row, promising (rightfully in my view) to “give voices to people” who actually […]
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.
Shakespeare Wallah: Merchant Ivory Opulence missing a certain something (Review)
Made in 1965, Shakespeare Wallah was the second collaboration from Merchant Ivory and the first to really garner some international attention. Written by regular Merchant Ivory scribe Ruth Prawer Jhabvala, the film was one of the earliest English-language speaking roles for acclaimed Bollywood actor Shashi Kapoor and marked the screen […]
Heat and Dust: A dual narrative of sexual and imperial politics (Review)
There’s an anecdote about Heat and Dust from producer Ismail Merchant in Robert Emmet Long’s 1993 book The Films of Merchant Ivory that I’ve always liked because I think it says a lot about not only the cultural differences between the British film industry and Hollywood but also the different […]
Stanley, a Man of Variety (2016): Timothy Spall’s surreal comic trip, for better and worse (Review)
It has long been said that comedy and tragedy are two sides of the same coin, and this has never been more true than in the common link of great personal tragedy that can be found in many a quintessentially British comedian from yesteryear. Think about them; Tony Hancock, an […]
Widows (2018): A tense & intelligent repacking of a 1980s TV classic (Review)
Growing up as I did in the 1980s, I well remember the original Widows – Lynda La Plante’s 1983 miniseries about four women who have no option but to follow in the footsteps of their late husbands and partners and into a life of crime. It starred Ann Mitchell (now […]
Ray & Liz (2018) Trading Memories of a Working-Class North (Review)
The Black Country born photographer and artist Richard Billingham first came to fame in the mid to late 1990s, when his award-winning photographic collection of his working-class parents formed part of Charles Saatchi’s YBA exhibition, ‘Sensation’. At the height of what was known as ‘Cool Britannia’, Billingham’s uncompromising look to the […]
Sink the Bismarck! (1960) A British Stiff-Upper Lip Vision of Heroism (Review)
Directed by Lewis Gilbert, the 1960 film Sink the Bismarck! tells the true-life story of the Royal Navy’s mission to track down and destroy the eponymous pride of the German fleet and scourge of Atlantic shipping. Making it’s UK Blu-ray debut on the Eureka Classics label, it’s a distinctive film […]
Georgy Girl (1966) the good, bad and ugly of Swinging 60’s London (Review)
‘Georgy Girl Is Big!’ so screamed the tagline on the posters of Silvio Narizzano’s 1966 swinging London set film. It had two meanings of course and the first was to imply the nature of its central character Georgy; an ungainly selfless young woman, big of frame and of heart, played […]
The Blood Of Hussain (1980) a mesmerising piece of cinema (Review)
Jamil Dehlavi’s The Blood of Hussain is an allegorical tale of revolt against tyranny and oppression in 1970s Pakistan. It takes place during the annual mourning procession for Hussain, grandson of the prophet Muhammad, who was slain for his refusal to recognise Yazid ibn Muawiya, the Umayyad Caliph, as his leader […]
A Prayer Before Dawn (2017) a brutal show of a young actor’s anonymity (Review)
When Liverpudlian Billy Moore travelled to Thailand in 2005 it was with a making view to a fresh start away from the life of crime that had led him to various prison sentences and a crippling drug addiction. Initially, it seemed to work. By day he secured jobs that ranged from […]