The British film industry of the late twentieth century is one that I am deeply fascinated by. From the early 1970s onwards, it was an industry cash-strapped by Hollywood’s decision to return home after rinsing the profitable new wave/kitchen sink/swinging London milieus of the previous decade. Compelled to either emulate […]
Mark Cunliffe
The Party and the Guests (1966): So Good They Banned It Twice (Review)
Dillinger (1973): Print the Legend (Review)
“When the legend becomes fact, print the legend” is an infamous quote from John Ford’s 1962 classic Western The Man Who Shot Liberty Valance that could arguably be seen as the inspiration for Dillinger, John Milius’1973 directorial debut, dusted down by Arrow Video and given the Blu-ray treatment this week. Based on […]
Merry-Go-Round (1956) Romeo and Juliet in Communist Hungary (Review)
Released this week as part of Second Run’s Hungarian Masters limited edition three disc Blu-ray (see m’colleagues reviews on this site for the other two films in the set), Merry-Go-Round, or to give it its original Hungarian title Körhinta, is rightly held up as one of the finest achievements in […]
Le Samourai (1967) Alain in the Underworld (Review)
Criterion delivers Alain Delon’s most iconic performance to Blu-ray this week with the release of Jean-Pierre Melville’s classic, Gallic ode to ’40s US gangster movies, Le Samourai. In what is arguably his greatest role, the impossibly handsome Delon stars as as assassin-for-hire Jef Costello. Dressed in trenchcoat and a deeply […]
Early Universal Vol 2: 20,000 Leagues Under the Sea/The Calgary Stampede/What Happened to Jones? (1916-1926) (Review)
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 […]
Almost Liverpool 8 (2021) A Love Letter to a Postcode (Review)
The Sabata Trilogy (1969-71) For a Few Sequels More (Review)
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 […]