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3 Jul
2020 |
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1 Juk
2020 |
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| Britannia Hospital |
| Director Lindsay Anderson occupies a singular niche in British Cinema and Britannia Hospital is the third in his ‘Mick Travis’ trilogy after If.... and O Lucky Man!. Camus is befuddled, amused and bemused by this really odd, little science fiction film… |
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1 Jul
2020 |
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30 Jun
2020 |
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| Takeshi Kitano Collection |
| Three terrific early features by one of modern cinema's finest directors – Violent Cop, Boiling Point and Sonatine – have been given welcome Blu-ray upgrades and brought together into a single, rather lovely box set by the BFI. A very happy Slarek revisits three personal favourites. |
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26 Jun
2020 |
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26 Jun
2020 |
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24 Jun
2020 |
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23 Jun
2020 |
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| Force 10 From Navarone |
| A small team assembles to do a big job. Cinema is awash with films with such a formula. A sequel to an illustrious predecessor, Force 10 From Navarone recasts its leads and showcases the rising star of the day. Camus joins the team… |
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20 Jun
2020 |
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| The Beast Must Die |
| The werewolf movie meets Agatha Christie in Paul Annett's offbeat and entertaining 1974 blend of horror, action movie and country house mystery gets a richly featured Blu-ray release from Indicator. Slarek revisits The Beast Must Die, a curio of a film that has aged considerably better than he would have predicted. |
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16 Jun
2020 |
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| Columbia Classics 4K Ultra HD Collection from Sony in August |
| Sony Pictures Home Entertainment has announced a box set of past Columbia favourites – including Lawrence of Arabia, Gandhi and Dr. Strangelove – on 4K UHD and Blu-ray, each remastered and each accompanied by a strong collection of extras. |
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11 Jun
2020 |
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| Eve, Sweet Charity and I, Monster on Indicator Blu-ray in August |
| A diverse trio of treats have been announced by Indicator for August Blu-ray release in the shape of Joseph Losey's highly personal James Hadley Chase adaptation Eve, Bob Fosse's directorial debut feature Sweet Charity and Amicus Jekyll and Hyde adaptation I, Monster. |
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11 Jun
2020 |
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9 Jun
2020 |
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4 Jun
2020 |
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| Distant Journey |
| A classic Czech film about the Holocaust, made just three years after WWII ended, that also contains some highly interesting experimental and expressionistic forays, Distant Journey finds a definitive Blu-ray edition via Second Run, reviewed here by clydefro. |
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4 Jun
2020 |
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| Keaton, Wilder and a silent horror classic from Eureka in August |
| August sees another belting trio of Blu-ray releases coming from Eureka, in the shape of silent horror classic The Man Who Laughs, a third box set of Buster Keaton films containing Our Hospitality, Go West and College, and Billy Wilder's Five Graves to Cairo. |
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3 Jun
2020 |
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| America as Seen by a Frenchman |
| In what may be the most unfortunately timed Blu-ray release of the year so far, French documentarian François Reichenbach's poetic love-letter to America and its culture is out this week on Arrow Academy Blu-ray. Slarek takes a trip with the director but can't get the images dominating the nightly news out of his head. |
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29 May
2020 |
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| Cisco Pike |
| Cisco Pike was a relatively unknown 1972 drama surfing the youth culture tsunami kick started by Easy Rider. It stayed that way until it was released on DVD 34 years after its all but buried cinema run. Camus samples the life of the outlaw... |
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28 May
2020 |
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| Spring Night Summer Night |
| The work of a first-time feature director and his students and finally restored to its original form, Joseph L. Anderson's Spring Night Summer Night was recently released on a typically excellent Indicator Blu-ray. Slarek takes a trip to rural Ohio and falls for this microburget neorealist gem. |
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10 May
2020 |
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| You lucky, lucky bastard |
| In a flipside follow-up to his previous blog, Slarek takes a look at a few of the positive things he will take from the current enforced lockdown and makes note of a few things he genuinely has to be grateful for. |
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17 May
2020 |
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| John Ford at Columbia 1935-1958 |
| Slarek has finally completed his inexcusably late but detailed review of John Ford at Columbia 1935-1958, a special features-packed box set from Indicator that handsomely showcases four lesser discussed films by one of America's most respected and influential filmmakers. |
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14 May
2020 |
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| The 1,000 Eyes of Dr. Mabuse |
| The belated third film in Fritz Lang's Mabuse trilogy may not reach the heights of its celebrated predecessors but it still has plenty to recommend it. Slarek revisits the film looking better than ever on this new Masters of Cinema Blu-ray from Eureka. |
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10 May
2020 |
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| Lockdown slowdown |
| In a much-delayed blog, Slarek reflects on some unexpected effects of the current lockdown, its impact in his health, how that has led to a delay in the posting of reviews, and why digging out his tools and some wood to build a plinth has really helped. Oh, and why you should never trust this government on anything... |
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29 Apr
2020 |
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| The Strange One |
| Ben Gazzara is terrific as a manipulative and empathy-free military academy cadet in the sharply written and superbly acted 1957 The Strange One, the first of only two dramatic features made by Actors Studio director Jack Garfein. Slarek stands to attention for Indicator's typically strong Blu-ray. |
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26 Apr
2020 |
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| Kwaidan |
| Perhaps the most visually striking cinematic ghost story collection is also one of the genre's very best, and Kobayashi Masaki's mesmeringly supernatural masterpiece Kwaidan looks better than ever on this new Masters of Cinema Blu-ray. Slarek revisits Japanese curios, with sundry cobwebs. |
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