One of the reasons I enjoy writing is because I want to share my love of films with other people. I’ve always taken pride in introducing friends, family, and now strangers, to movies that have changed my life. The reverse is also incredibly special, when someone shares one of their […]
Second Sight
Chopper (2000) A Darkly Comic True Crime Story (Review)
Out now with a glorious Second Sight blu-ray is Chopper, which tells the story of Mark “Chopper” Read – a modern day Robin Hood (in Read’s version), a career criminal according to his criminal record. Written and directed by Andrew Dominik, the film takes its liberties from Read’s own autobiographical […]
The Ginger Snaps Trilogy (2000-2004) Important piece of Disruptive Art, vital as Teen Horror icon (Review)
Somewhere between the meta-cinematic knowingness of Scream and the self-contained irony of Jennifer’s Body sits Ginger Snaps, a smart, sassy, trilogy of teenage girls dealing with lycanthropy. Or are they really dealing with teenage problems? Menstruation and other signs of puberty; sexuality and relationships; addiction and self-harm; colonialism and manifest […]
The Changeling 4K (1980) One of the 80s Definitive Haunted House Movies, wrinkles and All (Review)
You could argue that Don’t Look Now and The Changeling are treatments of the same story. The protagonists are both men (George C. Scott in The Changeling) who suffer tragic deaths in their families and in their struggle to find a coping mechanism – they find spooky architectural pursuits. Here, Scott plays a composer who rents […]
Picnic at Hanging Rock (1975) A Beguiling & Intriguing work that put Australian Movies on the Map (Review)
Peter Weir is a director with an eclectic career. From Witness to Dead Poets Society to The Truman Show to Master and Commander: The Far Side of the World, Weir’s subject matter and indeed style have rarely fit into easily identifiable boxes. His first international success, 1975’s Picnic at Hanging […]
The Texas Chainsaw Massacre (1974) Almost 50 years later, it has lost none of its power (Review)
Sally, her brother Franklin, and three of their friends are sidetracked when travelling to a grandparent’s house. Their impromptu detour leads them into the clutches of the Sawyer family, and the deranged killer known as Leatherface. There has been so much written about The Texas Chainsaw Massacre over the years […]
Tangerine (2015) – a lovely LGBT-positive lo-fi Christmas romp (Blu-Ray Review)
With the festive season well underway, and Christmas itself rapidly approaching, I have no doubt that most people who celebrate will have already watched at least one classic holiday picture this month by the time this review is released. Of course, many viewers choose to deviate from the well-established Yuletide […]
Bull (2021) Bull by name, Bull by nature (Blu-Ray Review)
Ahead of the looming release of Tangerine, Bull is the most recent release from the always-strong Second Sight Films. Paul Andrew Williams (London to Brighton, The Cottage) directs and writes Neil Maskell in the titular role, a character you could describe as a savage. The brutality of his actions is […]
Censor (2021) Edit this disc-set into your reality (Review)
Prano Bailey-Bond’s Censor was one of the most impressive films released in 2021. Shot on a tiny budget by a first-time director, Bailey-Bond offers a compelling story of grief, trauma and an unravelling psyche, set against a meticulously created vision of the 1980s. Censor offers nods to horror cinema and […]