Blake Edwards’ 1962 thriller, Experiment in Terror, opens on the night skyline of San Francisco. Lines of traffic cruise down the highway in the pitch black with Henry Mancini’s haunting and sinister score lumbering in the background. It then cuts to a suburb with a convertible pulling into a garage. […]
Movies & Documentaries
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 […]
The Lady from Shanghai (1947) Orson Welles Infamously cut-to-pieces Noir Returns (Review)
Orson Welles once claimed he only saw thrillers as a means to an end, that if it wasn’t for the unfortunate necessity of getting films funded he wouldn’t have made any. As if to demonstrate this, he would often tell a story about the genesis of his famous noir, The […]
Lost In France (2016) Documenting the Glasgow Indie Rock Scene (Review)
The music industry is full of holy grail moments. A significant, chance meeting that launches a band that goes on to change the world, a landmark album, a legendary gig or the promise of what might have been. It doesn’t matter what band, singer or record label you worship, all […]
Shadows and Fog (1990) Woody Allen’s Under-rated Homage to German Silent Cinema (Review)
One year following his overlooked 1990 film, Alice, Woody Allen followed that up with his tribute film towards the German expressionist film movement, Shadows and Fog. As the title suggests, Allen and cinematographer, Carlo Di Palma, soak the film in a misty and darkened b/w atmosphere, so Woody was obviously […]
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 […]
Alice Doesn’t Live Here Anymore (1974) From the Exorcist to long-suffering housewife, Ellen Burstyn’s incredible Charismatic Lead (Review)
Ellen Burstyn was riding high off the back of The Exorcist and looking for a prospective project to make with Warner Brothers when Robert Getchell’s script for what was to become Alice Doesn’t Live Here Anymore fell into her lap. It was the early 1970s and feminism was beginning to […]
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 […]
Who’s That Knocking At My Door (1968) Right from the off, Scorsese proved himself to be very special (Review)
Who’s That Knocking At My Door, Martin Scorsese’s black and white debut feature film from 1968, originally started out life as his NYU graduation project some three years earlier. Aged just 23, armed with a minuscule budget and relying on numerous favours, Scorsese took to the familiar streets of his […]
My 20th Century (1989) a full-on thermonuclear blast of intellectual, comic and sensory pleasure (Review)
“We live in the flicker”, Joseph Conrad famously wrote, referring to the breathless speed of technological advancement in the crossover from the nineteenth to the twentieth century. In addressing the same historical period, Ildikó Enyedi’s debut film My 20th Century – released on DVD and Blu-Ray by Second Run – […]