From start to finish, Bryan Forbes’ Deadfall (1968) glimmers with the gloss of a 1960’s classic heist thriller, very much in the vein of Ocean’s Eleven (1960) or Topkapi (1964), and presents itself as a truly attractive film with its easy-on-the-eye cast, wonderful cinematography, and classical camera work.During a stay at Continue Reading
★☆☆☆☆ Not to be confused with Woody Allen’s 1982 feature A Midsummer Night’s Sex Comedy, A Swedish Midsummer Sex Comedy, or Äntligen midsommar! (2009) as it is known in Sweden, is the latest offering from director Ian McCrudden. First things first; here’s what the synopsis in the press notes has to Continue Reading
Filmed in postwar Germany in much the same way as a number of Italian Neorealist efforts, Michael Anatole Litvak’s Decision Before Dawn (1951) concerns the moral grey area of treason and treachery in regards to two German soldiers who are hired by American forces to spy on their motherland during the Second World War’s Continue Reading
Andrew Marton’s The Thin Red Line (1964), an adaptation of James Jones’ novel (later adapted by Terrence Malick), is a psychological study of men of war – their intentions, fears, masculinity and interrelationships – during the Battle of Guadalcanal. The central relationship between Keir Dullea’s young, naive Pvt. Doll and Continue Reading
★☆☆☆☆ Picture the scene: you’re walking through your local HMV (other retailers are available) and you’re looking to buy a movie because you’ve got the boys coming over for some gaming and beers. The perfect genre to pick for such an occasion is the ‘dumb but rather fun’ action flick Continue Reading
★★☆☆☆ It’s amazing to think what a difference 5 years and an extra 76 minutes can make. Adam Salky’s Dare (2009) originally began life as a 16 minute short before evolving into its final feature form. It tells the tale of awkward drama wannabe Alexa (Emmy Rossum), closet gay lighting technician Ben (Ashley Continue Reading