Laika films have a remarkable position in modern cinema, not only are they keeping the wonder of stop-motion animation alive for the next generation, but they are also a flag bearer for gateway horror. Between Paranorman, Coraline, and, to a lesser extent, the Boxtrolls, they are providing that same generation […]
Reviews
The Final Master (2015) Lost between martial arts classics and Hollywood fuzz (Review)
Silence and Cry (1968) a thought-provoking portrait of a unique director at a critical juncture in history (Review)
The Lair of The White Worm (1988) Ken Russell’s campy horror take on Bram Stoker (Review)
Ice Cold in Alex (1958) Unassuming World War II drama that birthed the modern beer commercial (Review)
Orchestra Rehearsal (1978) Fellini’s succinct satire of a world without music (Review)
‘Orchestra Rehearsal’ saw Federico Fellini strip back his surreal tendencies and channelled his energy into something more tangible and less wild. Released in 1978, ‘Orchestra Rehearsal’ is set in one, large, barren hall. A wry voice-over explains that this place was once the burial site of three Popes and seven […]
Brakes (2016) An interesting debut with an interesting spin on the Rom-Com (Review)
London based actress Mercedes Grower makes her screenwriting and directorial debut with Brakes, a film that couldn’t be any more lo-fi if it tried. Episodic and improvisational in feel, Brakes is a multi-stranded ensemble piece that explores what it is to fall in and out of love in contemporary London. […]
Phantom Thread (2017) the mother of all complexes (Review)
Michael (1924) Carl Th. Dreyer’s The Phantom Thread (Review)
The Colour of Pomegranates (1969) impenetrably profound and dazzlingly superficial (Review)
Maybe you find that challenging, or intimidating, or mind-numbing, or somewhere between all three. If so, I’m not exactly sweetening the pot if I tell you that the film is a series of oblique, poetic tableaux vivants that symbolically illustrate the inner and outer life of the 18th century Armenian […]