The second adaptation of an Ernest Hemingway short, the Killers is the latest release from Arrow’s Academy label. The first adaptation was the feature acting début of Burt Lancaster and is regarded as a film noir classic; this 1964 adaptation directed Don Siegel is a much more traditional crime thriller, […]
Reviews
Phantom of the Paradise (1974): De Palma’s Phantasmagorical Rock-Opera-Horror (Review)
Despite starting his directing career in the 60s with a string of Robert De Niro collaborations, Brian de Palma is of a class of genre directors who rose to prominence in the 1970s and 80s that have become known for a specific type of film. That specific film is a […]
Only Lovers Left Alive (2014) The Anti-Vampire Movie (Review)
Dead Man and Ghost Dog saw Indie favourite Jim Jarmusch bring his quirky idiosyncrasies to more traditionally visceral genres. Ghost Dog is worlds away from a traditional Yakuza or Samurai film, and the same is true for Dead Man with westerns. His 12th feature, Only Lovers Left Alive continues that […]
John Dies at the End (2012): Surreal and Meaty, needs to be seen to be believed (Review)
Originally starting life as a web serial by the appropriately monikered David Wong, John Dies at the End has grown into a published novel (and a sequel This Book Is Full of Spiders), before being developed by Bubba Ho-Tep and Phantasm director Don Coscarelli. Now in 2014, Eureka films are […]
Wings (1927): Silent Spectacle and the legendary birth of the Blockbuster (Review)
Reviewing silent cinema is a difficult task, evaluating something so antiquated with the sensibilities of the modern era requires the ability to look past modernity and adopt an eye keyed into the gaze they were first viewed with. Failing that, legacy is always an entry point into the early days […]
Teenage (2013): Inspired, Cut out Punk Documentary about the teenage experience (Review)
People between the ages of 13 and 19 have obviously always existed, the lifestyle of the teenager is commonly believed to have been invented in the 1950s with the popularisation of Rock ‘n Roll. In Matt Wolf’s idiosyncratic documentary and ‘living collage’, Teenage, he gives voice to accounts of what […]
Kiss of the Damned (2012): Twisted Euro Vampires in the wrong movie (Review)
During the director interview on Eureka’s release of Xan Cassavetes’ Kiss of the Damned, the director states that titles like Twilight are children’s films and don’t belong to the great tradition of vampires in cinema. Although that wasn’t the influence behind the film, it’s a good point to approach from. […]
Computer Chess (2013) Part Comedy, Part Doc, and Defiantly retro (Review)
Computer Chess (Masters of Cinema’s latest release) was part-financed by Kickstarter. Now it might not sound like much but this is a momentous turn in fate, for a long time websites like Kickstarter have been an appealing means of community-led sufficiency for creative projects, but at the same time, they […]
Il Bidone (1955): Playing the game in a giant’s shadow (Review)
Fellini is esteemed at the top of the tree of classic film directors, only for the UK market he hasn’t been served anywhere near as well as his fellow masters of cinema. There have been bits and pieces released on limited runs here and there, but it’s still lacking. Enter […]
Wolf Children (2012) From the same cloth as Miyazaki’s Meticulous Fables (Review)
In Anime’s golden age, the appeal of this formerly niche Japanese art-style broke down barriers because it actively incorporated global inspirations, with Cowboy Bebop being the crown prince of examples. From the type of stories told, references made – anime’s footprint expanded, turning this once provincial form into something globally […]