The original folk tale of Rumpelstiltskin is one we’ve all had read to us as children or at least know the overarching events of. A miller, eager to elevate his social status, lies about his daughter’s abilities – claiming she can spin straw into gold. The king, soon to remarry, […]
Movies & Documentaries
The Doom Busters (Glasgow Frightfest 2025)
Maybe in the future, I should judge what films I watch based on if I crack a smile or not looking at the synopsis, because when I noticed that The Doom Busters was about British citizens serving in the Home Guard uncovering an alien presence during World War II, I […]
The Last Sacrifice (Glasgow FrightFest 2025)
On Valentine’s Day, 1945, the body of a man named Charles Walton, was discovered on the grounds of the farm where he worked on the edge of Meon Hill, Warwickshire. Walton’s demise had been a particularly gruesome one – he had been murdered with a pitchfork and bill-hook in a […]
Bushido (2024) (Japan Foundation Touring Film Programme 2025)
The two and half millennia-old board game Go plays a pivotal role in this sprawling jidaigeki drama from Japan. The story concerns an array of characters living in a civilised town during Japan’s Edo period (between 1600 and mid-1800s), but the central relationship follows Yanagida (Tsuyoshi Kusanagi), a mysterious former […]
Doctor Vampire (1990) Hong Kong’s Wild, Goofy Take on the Western Bloodsucker
Whilst there is a long list of Chinese and Hong Kong “Vampire” movies, this would usually conjure up images of hopping blood suckers attacking our fighting heroes in an attempt to rid them of their lives, a la Mr Vampire (1985) which sees our Taoist priest Lam Ching Ying and […]
Memoir Of A Snail (2024): The Best Stop-Motion Film Since Coraline – Yes, Really
For as much as several stop-motion films are among my favourite films of all time, I always have to pinch myself whenever I get to see a new one. I’m still by no means a connoisseur of the medium but damn if I don’t treasure the opportunity to see people […]
Running on Karma (2003) Fate, Forgiveness, and a Musclebound Andy Lau in a Thong
The Hong Kong film industry of the late 90s and early Noughties was a shadow of the business that had become the definition of “Action Cinema” for the global market. From Jackie Chan to Bruce Lee, it had become synonymous with some of the wildest and most daring movies the […]
Chantal Akerman Collection Vol 1(1967-1978) Temporal Boundaries and Liminal Spaces
When it comes to cineastes, the name of Chantal Akerman carries a lot of weight and respect. Despite this, however, up until this month, I had never seen a single film of hers. So, when the BFI announced a limited five-Blu-ray boxset release of fourteen landmark films from her first […]
Escape from the 21st Century (2024): everything, everywhere, even more than that (Review)
Do you think, when he went into the vocal booth for the first Kung Fu Panda film, Jack Black knew he was changing film history forever? Probably – it seems like the sort of thing he’d say to psych himself up. But even he probably couldn’t have guessed that the […]
Nomad (1982) & My Heart is that Eternal Rose (1989): Breathtaking Films from the Hong Kong New Wave
New year, same me. I’m back in the trusted hands of Radiance Films, who defined my 2024 with new discoveries and new obsessions. With their latest double disc release of Nomad and My Heart is That Eternal Rose, Radiance have thrust me into the Hong Kong New Wave to discover […]