 |
 |
24 Apr
2024 |
|
|
|
|
 |
| 23 Apr 2023 |
|
|
| Children’s Film Foundation Bumper Box Vol. 5 |
| The BFI’s fifth compilation of Children’s Film Foundation productions once again features nine films from the 1940s to the end of the 1970s on three DVDs. Gary Couzens is sitting in the one-and-nines. |
|
|
|
24 Apr
2024 |
|
|
|
|
 |
22 Apr
2023 |
|
|
| Civil War |
| Like Christopher Nolan, director Alex Garland has forged a career, albeit on lower budgets, with work every bit as creative, diverse and original as the Oppenheimer director’s oeuvre. Civil War showcases his talents with an uneasy, highly relevant subject. Camus dons a Hi-Viz vest and keeps his head down… |
|
|
|
22 Apr
2023 |
|
|
| Baltimore |
| Jerry Whyte squares up to contemporary complacency and seeks to rescue heiress-turned-academic-turned-revolutionary Dr. Brigit Rose Dugdale from the enormous condescension of posterity. He wonders how Baltimore, the latest compelling thriller from Desperate Optimists, manages to honour her memory while simultaneously doing it damage. |
|
|
|
19 Apr
2024 |
|
|
|
|
 |
| 19 Apr 2023 |
|
|
| The Bat Woman |
| Borrowing shamelessly from film and TV icons north of the border, director René Cardona's 1968 The Bat Woman is often silly, occasionally a little cackhanded, but still a fun and thematically progressive ride for fans of low-budget Mexican genre cinema. Gort jumps down the bat pole with Indicator's new Blu-ray in his utility belt. |
|
|
|
| 18 Apr 2023 |
|
|
| End of the Road |
| Following the passing of American novelist John Barth, Gary Couzens looks back at End of the Road, released in 1970, the only film version of his work, on a DVD from Warner Home Video. |
|
|
|
| 12 Apr 2023 |
|
|
| The Panther Women |
| In the second of his reviews of recent Indicator Blu-ray releases of multi-genre lucha libre films from director René Cardona, Gort goes ten rounds with The Panther Women, a surprisingly effective and enjoyable blend of luchadora and old-school satanic creature horror. |
|
|
|
| 9 Apr 2023 |
|
|
| Santo vs. the Riders of Terror |
| Six patients escape from a leper hospital and are approached by bandits with a plan to prey on the fear of nearby townspeople, prompting the local sheriff to call on the help of a masked outsider in the 1970 Santo vs. the Riders of Terror. Gort jumps in the ring for a curious but entertaining hybrid on Indicator's ace new Blu-ray. |
|
|
|
| 8 Apr 2023 |
|
|
| Snapshot |
| Snapshot, a thriller from 1979 starring Sigrid Thornton as a model under threat, is released by Indicator on Blu-ray and 4K UHD. Gary Couzens looks at the pictures. |
|
|
|
| 7 Apr 2023 |
|
|
| Elegant Beast |
| The Japanese New Wave is one of the great film movements, and the 1962 film Elegant Beast by Yūzō Kawashima is a fascinating example. Radiance Films brought this lesser known gem to light on a late 2023 Blu-ray release that is reviewed here by SilverBlueSnow. |
|
|
|
6 Apr
2024 |
|
|
|
|
|
4 Apr
2024 |
|
|
|
|
|
3 Apr
2024 |
|
|
| Ashby, Truffaut, Reeves and tough noir from Radiance in July |
| Five new Blu-ray titles have been announced by Radiance for release this July, with tough crime dramas Eighteen Years in Prison and Tchao Pantin, François Truffaut's Mississippi Mermaid, Hal Ashby's The Landlord, and Michael Reeves' Revenge of the Blood Beast. |
|
|
 |
|
| 30 Mar 2023 |
|
|
| Tony Arzenta |
| Alain Delon plays a mob hitman who wants to retire for the sake of his family, a decision that does not impress his criminal employers in director Duccio Tessari's moodily compelling Eurocrime drama from 1973. Slarek takes a ride with a hired gun on the vengeance trail on this new Blu-ray from Radiance. |
|
|
|
| 27 Mar 2023 |
|
|
| Patrick |
| Richard Franklin's suspense thriller from 1978, Patrick, is the first of a series of Ozploitation films to be released on Blu-ray and UHD by Indicator. Gary Couzens is anything but comatose. |
|
|
|
| 20 Mar 2023 |
|
|
| The Village Detective: a song cycle |
| The chance recovery of four cans of decomposing film from the ocean floor launches filmmaker Bill Morrison on an voyage of cinematic discovery in his latest feature, The Village Detective: a song cycle. Slarek is bewitched by decay and learns about a major star of Soviet cinema on Second Run’s recently released Blu-ray. |
|
|
|
| 20 Mar 2023 |
|
|
| Beautiful Thing |
| Beautiful Thing, written by Jonathan Harvey from his play and directed by Hettie Macdonald, is a key British love story and coming-out film, optimistic in defiance of the climate of its time, released by the BFI on Blu-ray. Gary Couzens sees rainbows. |
|
|
|
13 Mar
2023 |
|
|
| Dune: Part Two |
| An obvious passion project from one of the top three directors still delivering the mainstream goods, Dune: Part Two arrives with critical fanfares strewn ahead of it. There’s a very good reason for that. Director Denis Villeneuve has delivered a nuanced and yet epic masterpiece. Camus revels in an all too politically pertinent blockbuster… |
|
|
 |
7 Mar
2024 |
|
|
| Blog: Stalled content in problematic times |
| Breaking the recent unplanned silence, site editor Slarek pops his head above the personal issues parapet to explain the recent absence of new reviews and news stories on the site and why things may take a while to return to normal. |
|
|
 |
| 28 Feb 2023 |
|
|
| The Wages of Fear |
| Four desperate men are hired to transport two lorryloads of nitro-glycerine along treacherous mountain roads to stem an oil well fire in Henri-Georges Clouzot’s 1953 masterpiece of sustained suspense. Slarek hods his breath and reviews the new BFI 4K UHD release of one of his favourite films. |
|
|
|
| 25 Feb 2023 |
|
|
| Getting it Back: The Story of Cymande |
| A band whose influence – on hip-hop, house and other genres of black music – far exceeded its commercial success, Cymande has its story told in Getting It Back, released on Blu-ray from the BFI. Review by Gary Couzens. |
|
|
|
| 25 Feb 2023 |
|
|
| Paths of Glory |
| The 1957 Paths of Glory remains one of director Stanley Kubrick’s finest achievements and a still devastating anti-war drama. It’s still available on Blu-ray from Eureka, so is the label’s new, identically featured UHD upgrade worth a buy? Slarek walks the trenches to find out. |
|
|
|
| 16 Feb 2023 |
|
|
| I, the Executioner |
| A serial killer is targeting a group of Tōkyō women in director Katō Tai's smart, well directed but deeply discomforting 1968 drama, which makes its UK Blu-ray debut courtesy of Radiance Films. Slarek takes a walk on the dark side and discovers that there's a lot more to the story here than its confrontational opening scene suggests. |
|
|
|
| 14 Feb 2023 |
|
|
| Werner Herzog: Radical Dreamer |
| An entry-level look at the life and career of Werner Herzog, including testimonials from friends, family and colleagues, Radical Dreamer comes to Blu-ray from the BFI. Review by Gary Couzens. |
|
|
|
| 8 Feb 2023 |
|
|
| Death Occurred Last Night |
| Two Milan police detectives embark on a search for an office worker's missing daughter in Duccio Tessari's 1970 Death Occurred Last Night. Slarek is gripped by this intelligent and gripping melding of multiple police and crime subgenres, which looks terrific on this new Blu-ray from Radiance Films. |
|
|
