Brigitte Anne-Marie Bardot started acting in 1952, at the age of 17. By the end of that decade she was the most famous woman in France, for her films, her music and the gleefully-reported-on turmoil of her private life. Among actresses of this era, only Marilyn Monroe was more famous. […]
Movies & Documentaries
Lady Reporter (1989) A Showcase for Cynthia Rothrock’s Abilities (Review)
The pseudonyms of Lady Reporter, Eureka’s latest turn in bringing Hong Kong action into the Blu-ray age for UK fans, are funny and emblematic of why these films can be so hard to find away from the guidance of boutique labels. This Cynthia Rothrock vehicle is known as The Blonde […]
La Syndicaliste (2022): A Conspiracy Thriller for the #MeToo World (Review)
Born in Ireland, Maureen Kearney was a trade unionist in France’s former state-owned nuclear company, Areva. Hearing of a contract between Areva and the bourgeoning Chinese nuclear industry from a disgruntled insider at EDF, Kearney grew fearful for the job security of her members and the future of the company […]
Smooth Talk (1985): should now be considered an American classic (Review)
For a reissue of a quiet, low-key movie that isn’t all that well-known, Criterion’s new Blu-Ray of Joyce Chopra’s feature debut Smooth Talk has to do a lot. First off, it has to contribute to correcting the gender imbalance in Criterion’s library, although it isn’t shouldering that burden alone. Over […]
Small Slow But Steady (2023): A Tender Character Study of a Hearing-Impaired Female Boxer (Review)
The latest film from Japan’s Shô Miyake, director of 2018’s And Your Bird Can Sing and 2020’s Ju-On: Origins, is Small, Slow But Steady, released to cinemas and Curzon Home Cinema on 30th June. Miyake’s touching movie is a highly original boxing drama inspired by the autobiographical book Makenaide!, the […]
Brooklyn 45 (2023) “I’ve Got No Faith Left”: Grief, Trauma and Haunting (Review)
In Brooklyn 45, Maria, Archie and Paul regroup in the devastation of postwar America to support Clive, who is bereft following the death of his wife Susan. As they start to exorcise their metaphorical ghosts, spectres from the past begin to knock, determined to be let in, to the locked […]
Samurai Reincarnation (1981) – Theatrical bombast meets relevant messages (Review)
Adapting Futaro Yamada’s 1967 novel, Samurai Reincarnation, writer/director Kinji Fukasaku crafts a historical fantasy which begins over 350 years ago following the Shimabara Rebellion. A revolt led to thousands of Christians being slaughtered by the Tokugawa regime, as horrifically conveyed within a display of severed heads – with many split […]
The Laureate (2021) A Frustrating, Misguided and Melodramatic Biopic of a Fascinating True Story (Review)
I recently purchased Jerzy Skolimowski’s The Shout on Blu-Ray, a rather intriguing surrealist horror film based upon a short story by poet Robert Graves, who is played in a fictionalised version in that film by Tim Curry. The Laureate is a far more direct portrayal of Graves’ life, being a […]
Marcel the Shell with the Shoes on (2021) A heartfelt gem in the sometimes brutal world of A24 (Review)
After the end of his marriage, Dean takes refuge in an Airbnb. Whilst there he comes across two unlikely roommates, Marcel and his grandmother Connie. He then sets out to document and tell the story of the anthropomorphic shells in Marcel the Shell with the Shoes On. When hearing the […]
She Came from the Woods (2022) Capable, Fun and Easy retro-influenced slasher (Review)
Directed and co-written by Eric Bloomquist, She Came From The Woods is a farcical pastiche of the golden age of the American slasher film. Set in the 1980s, the film is an ode to holiday camp horrors such as The Burning (1981), Sleepaway Camp (1983) and of course Friday The […]