When Maciek Hamela was shooting this documentary on the roads between Ukraine and Poland there was probably still hope that this would remain a relatively short-lived war. Indeed, several of Hamela’s passengers – refugees carried in his volunteer’s van from urban and rural areas across the nation – often speak […]
Movies & Documentaries
Bodyguard Kiba 1&2 (1973) Never a bad thing when it comes to Sonny Chiba (Review)
Adapted from the action manga by Ikki Kajiwara, the Bodyguard Kiba movies were another series in a long line which were starring vehicles for arguably the most charismatic actor on Japan at the time, one Shinichi “Sonny” Chiba. Having made a steady stream of movies since 1959 for TOEI, working […]
Doctor Jekyll (2023): Entertaining Reinterpretation of Classic Story (Review)
The world premiere of Doctor Jekyll at Frightfest 2023 (which I was able to attend) began with director Joe Stephenson announcing he was about to go into a meeting to find out whether Hammer would still be producers on the movie. By the end of the screening, it was confirmed […]
7 Keys (SXSW 2024): Stylish Execution of High Concept British Thriller (Review)
Receiving its world premiere at SXSW, Joy Wilkinson makes her feature film debut as writer and director with 7 Keys, having found success in theatre, television, and radio. Immediately, she shows confidence in executing her vision with the opening shots of houses and flats around London, each one tinged with […]
Room at the Top (1959): The Birth of British New Wave Cinema (Review)
Released to Blu-ray this week by Studio Canal’s Vintage Classics label is the feature that effectively gave birth to the British film industry’s New Wave period of the 1960s, Jack Clayton’s 1959 movie Room at the Top, starring Laurence Harvey and Simone Signoret. The opening shot of Harvey’s threadbare socks […]
Horror Story – (Kinoteka 2024)(Review)
As the feature debut of writer-director Adrian Apanel, Horror Story pulls off a nice little magic trick. When fresh-faced finance graduate Tomek (Jakub Zajac), rents a room in a crumbling boarding house that’s straight out of the horror cinema interior decorating textbook, we expect things to go full-blown supernatural (or […]
In Flames (Glasgow Frightfest 2024)(Review)
Fifteen or so years ago a movie called In Flames would’ve conjured up images of Scandanavian terror, full of blacks and dark blues, probably quite nihilistic, where an unlucky group were victim to supernatural terrors from beyond. Admittedly, part of that hypothetical may be influenced by sharing a name with a Swedish […]
The Roaring Twenties (1939) How Systemic Failure Created a Gangster (Review)
Criterion’s stunning UHD Blu-Ray release of The Roaring Twenties allows audiences to rediscover a film that marked the end of the golden age of gangster films. Made in 1939, long after the success of Little Caesar (1931), Public Enemy (1931), and Scarface (1932), Raoul Walsh’s film is a fascinating, nostalgic […]
Danger Zone (Kinoteka 2024) (Review)
It’s the kind of sentiment you expect to hear on stage at the Kodak Theater around this time of year: “It’s important to learn from the suffering of other people”. Except this time it’s not coming from the mouth of someone who’s just made an Oscar-winning film, it’s said by […]
Au 8ème Jour (SXSW 2024) – Wonderfully Unique and Gorgeously Atmospheric (Review)
One of the many short films that SXSW are showcasing is the French animated student film Au 8ème Jour, or On The 8th Day, an eight-minute short depicting the creation and sudden collapse of a planet we can only assume to be similar to Earth. Many filmmakers in recent years […]