Whether it’s Agatha Christie or the likes of Law & Order and NCIS commanding TV schedules today, the murder mystery is one of the dominant genres in narrative media. Literally, every conceivable police department has been imagined in every major city, then there are the do-gooders who do a bit […]
Rob Simpson
Chief Editor
Host of the Uncut Network. With a love of movies kicked off by Hong Kong Action and Claymation Monsters, Rob has forever been cradled in the bosom of Cinema. Rob has his hands in many a pie, including no budget film making.
Melody (1971) Proto-Moonrise Kingdom in the British School System (Review)
Also known as S.W.A.L.K., Waris Hussein’s adaptation of Alan Parker’s script, Melody is a film that belongs to a tradition of films that are just ripe for cheap jokes from film critics. It has been seen countless times before when films have a title that allows a cut-rate swipe at […]
Phantasm (1979-2016) Don Coscarelli’s endlessly inventive horror saga (Review)
There is a loathable and inescapable truth in discussing the legacy of the horror franchise. Those titles with a tangible look, whether it is the pallid white mask of Michael Myers, the grotesquery of the Cenobites or the red and black sweater/bladed glove combo of Freddy Krueger, they are all […]
Drunken Master (1978) Jackie Chan at his physical peak (Review)
After the demise of Hong Kong Legends, British fans of martial arts classics were left wanting if they wanted to advance their collection or discover new favourites. Terracotta and 88 films picked up some of the slack but never enough to fill the void left by one of the kings […]
Brotherhood of Blades (2014) An all-too-rare outing for that classic Shaw Brothers-style yarn (Review)
It’s not the language barrier, nor the theatrics and flamboyance, no, the biggest cross for martial arts cinema to bear is context. As a Westerner, many of the nuances of Eastern history allude me, unfortunately, its those very nuances that the historical martial arts film (Wuxia) concerns itself with. Even […]
Lone Wolf and Cub (1972-74) Without Question, the Best Home Video release of 2017 (Review)
With their UK run, the criterion collection hasn’t released many of their more challenging titles instead opting for classics and cult titles whether that comes from screwball comedies or noir. That broader avenue sees Criterion occupy the same arena as Eureka’s Masters of Cinema, unlike that brand the American titan […]
The Proud Valley (1940) Paul Robeson shines in this important icon of black cinema (Review)
When is an important film at its most important? When it’s not even remotely concerned with any notion of importance. That is a perfect summation of Pen Tennyson’s The Proud Valley. The 1940 film stars black political activist Paul Robeson in one of the earliest notable lead roles for a […]
The Purple Rose of Cairo (1985) Perfectly captures our love affair with movies (Review)
As incredulous a comparison as it is, the monoliths that are DC & Marvel have an awful lot in common with that rare, super prolific class of directors which Woody Allen belongs to. Both parties present the uninitiated with an unwieldy mass of titles to consume and no clear starting […]
Charlie Chaplin: The Essanay Comedies (1915-1916) (Review)
Commenting on the ease of writing a review never needs to be brought up because it isn’t relevant. However, any notion of hardship from writing such an article typically comes from a need to evade spoilers. BFI’s Chaplin Essanay’s comedy set is different purely because of how uniform and similar […]
Raising Cain (1992) John Lithgow’s Sandbox and the unexpected Director’s Cut (Review)
In Noah Baumbach and Jake Paltrow’s disarmingly forthright documentary, De Palma, its subject talks about the highs and lows of his career. In that one man and his camera documentary, there is one sentence that perfectly encapsulates how modest a man Brian De Palma is. He along with other directors do […]