Ernst Lubitsch isn’t remembered for the silent work which Eureka’s Masters of Cinema is concerning themselves with, his name carries traction from his dramatic comedies of the 1930s and 40s (To be or not to be, Trouble in Paradise). Madame Dubarry predates this and the boom era of the silent […]
Movies & Documentaries
A Jester’s Tale (1964) Karel Zeman’s Astonishing Anti-Historical War Epic (Review)
Everybody invested to a certain degree in cinema has their favourite actors and directors; the fascinating part of which is discovering who influenced them. This is doubly true when you discover the people who influenced such a staunch surrealist and outsider, Terry Gilliam, the very same influence that can also […]
Night Moves (2013) Polarizing Slow Cinema takes on radical environmentalism (Review)
Not to be confused with Arthur Penn’s under-appreciated mystery film starring Gene Hackman, Night Moves is the latest film from American minimalist Kelly Reichardt. It follows the current wave of films about radical environmentalists from the heart of the American indie. A trend that has yet to have its definitive […]
Branded to Kill (1967): A Hitman Movie like you’ve never seen before (Review)
The textbook example of a film misunderstood in its own time, upon the release of Branded to kill the legendary the Japanese director Seijun Suzuki was fired by Nikkatsu Studios. Nikkatsu even went to the length of refusing to release it, a decision that saw court action and Suzuki ejected […]
The Abominable Dr Phibes (1971) & Dr Phibes Rises Again (1972)(Review)
Arrow films resume their retrospective of the finest titles from Vincent Price’s filmography with a double bill of Robert Fuest’s Doctor Phibes films – the Abominable Dr Phibes and Dr Phibes rises again. Before moving onto the films themselves the matter of the bundle is in question. What little extras […]
Nashville (1975) Altman at his very best provided you like Country Music (Review)
On the sheer scale of the venture, thinking of this release of Robert Altman’s Nashville as nothing shy of towering would be a gross underestimation. The vague narrative has 24 characters and an hour of uninterrupted musical numbers. Across many concerts and gigs, country musicians navigate a hectic week competing […]
Porky’s (1981) The King of Teen Sex Comedies shows its age (Review)
The 1980s and its teen sex comedies had huge box office returns, yet they also had a sense of uniformity with the same highs and lows across the board. You could rinse and repeat our review of the Last American Virgin, only changing slight details and actors. Over the years, […]
Omar (2014) Love & Crusade in Superlative Palestinian Drama (Review)
Politics affect everything in present-day civilisation whether you want to engage with them or not, but for some, it isn’t a matter of choice. There are a few places that are politically infamous on name alone; Korea’s DMZ is one such area, as is the West Bank of Palestine. The […]
The Pit and the Pendulum (1961) The heady days of Corman, Price & Poe (Review)
With the Fall of the House of Usher, Theatre of Blood, Dr Phibes and the Pit and the Pendulum, it would be fair to say that Arrow Video is on a Vincent Price kick. Theatre of Blood, their previous release, saw the great man given a level of freedom that […]
Sullivan’s Travels (1941) One of the Greatest Comedies of all time (Review)
During Hollywood’s golden era, the industry was anchored by studios and producers, compared to now the director has become the lead creative talent on any given movie, and whenever a production goes awry an overeager producer is usually to blame. All the same, a few directors carved out names for […]