July 20th 1973. A date shrouded in mystery as it is tragedy. The world lost a hero, but created a legend, one that thrives to this day. However, as with most legends, the story varies greatly from storyteller to storyteller, each version getting more lurid and conspiratorial in nature, until […]
Reviews
High Tension (2003) Loved and Loathed in Equal Measure (Review)
Saw may have ushered in a new wave of gritty “torture-porn” horror in the States, but by the time that James Wan’s modern classic hit U.S. cinemas in late 2004, filmmakers in France were already two steps ahead of the curve. Characterised by bleak tones, grungy colour palettes, and extended […]
The Civil Dead (2022) A Mumblecore Shaggy Dog Story with None of the Downsides (Review)
Giving himself a home-made haircut that turns into a “full-on mullet”, Clay – the hero of The Civil Dead, released in UK cinemas this week – can see the hopeful side. His photography business has been struggling: having terrible hair might be the gimmick he needs. The Civil Dead itself […]
Inside the Mind of Coffin Joe (1964-2008) The Man, His Myth and The Legend that made him (Review)
Arrow jumbo boxsets are always aptly titled. Their collection of filmmaking’s Florida Man (Herschell Gordon Lewis), spanning fourteen films all dedicated to gruey gloop, was emblazoned with the word Feast. Their recent Enter The Video Store set let you literally take the lid off a miniature video store to select […]
The Boy And The Heron (2023) – A Triumphant If Flawed Comeback For An Animation Titan
As part of my endeavour to see as many films in the cinema this year as I possibly can, I thought there was no better place to start (and no better first thing to review) than a Studio Ghibli film, especially when it’s their first film in nearly a decade […]
La Bamba (1987): Exuberant Music Biopic of a Life and Career Cut Tragically Short (Review)
It’s back to 1987 for this week’s Criterion Collection release and a time when everyone began to kid themselves that they could speak Spanish for a summer thanks to the chart-topping hit from Los Lobos of the same name – La Bamba A rock and roll biopic, La Bamba tells […]
Tchaikovsky’s Wife (2023) Biopic Anchored by the brilliant Alyona Mikhaylova (Review)
Tchaikovsky’s Wife – at first it may seem incongruous that Kirill Serebrennikov (Petrov’s Flu & LETO) – a parodist of contemporary Russia and two-year victim of a politically motivated house arrest who now lives in exile, would tackle an iconic Russian figure who’s central to understanding the nation’s cultural identity. […]
World Noir Vol. 1 (1957-59) Long May These Radiance Boxsets Continue (Review)
It was the French critic Nino Frank who famously first applied the term ‘film noir’ to the series of hardboiled Hollywood crime pictures that finally appeared in France after the Occupation. He was acting under the influence of the acclaimed, and rightfully famous, Gallimard crime fiction imprint Série noire – […]
Black God, White Devil (1964) – An Unforgettable Brazilian Classic (Review)
When Sight and Sound’s Greatest Films of All Time poll crowned Jeanne Dielman, 23 quai du Commerce, 1080 Bruxelles No.1 last year there was a great deal of predictably boring discourse online. The most striking thing I saw in the fallout had nothing to do with Chantel Akerman’s masterpiece, but […]
Murder Obsession (1981): Late-Period Meta-Giallo With Some Unforgettable Set-Pieces (Review)
In terms of titles that encapsulate the appeal of a whole genre, there aren’t many competitors, are there? You have the murder, you have the obsession, and every giallo must feature both, but only one of them is called Murder Obsession. Riccardo Freda’s final film, reissued on Blu-Ray by Radiance […]