Film reviews and more
★★★★★ Claude Lanzmann’s monumental Holocaust documentary Shoah (1985) took 12 years to make. Compiling over 350 hours of footage, including interviews with individuals in 14 countries, the final cut – released anew on Blu-ray for Eureka’s Masters of Cinema Collection […]
★★★☆☆ The search for meaning can be a futile task in a world obsessed with imagined realities; especially when the line between fact and fiction is distorted and ill-defined. The innate quest for purpose is the core of Yorgos Lanthimos’ […]
★★★☆☆ Breaking the mould and making fresh material out of things that have been around for decades is, arguably, one of Jimi Hendrix’s most enduring traits. Reshaping the jazz, blues and rock music of his peers, he spent much of […]
★★☆☆☆ First comes love, then comes marriage, then comes your wife’s possession by something rather insidious during your honeymoon at a secluded cabin in the woods. Romantic, right? Honeymoon (2014) is a lo-fi horror flick that builds on its familiar […]
★★★☆☆ Eiji Uchida’s Greatful Dead (2013) combines several genres with an extremely compelling outcome. Black humour and mild farce combine to provide the tone and make it more than just an intriguing watch. Nami (Kumi Takiuchi) has been disillusioned with […]
★★★☆☆ The inspiration for Spike Lee’s upcoming Da Sweet Blood of Jesus (2014), Bill Gunn’s 1973 vampire-but-not-quite film Ganja & Hess is being re-released by Eureka! on DVD and Blu-ray. It is a strange creature of the night; jumping back […]
★★★☆☆ Despite The Equalizer (2014) reuniting director Antoine Fuqua and star Denzel Washington, Richard Wenk’s lacklustre script – based on the 80s TV show – prompts little more than a disappointingly predictable display of bloodthirsty wrath and vengeance. In a […]
F. Scott Fitzgerald once claimed that “there are no second acts in American lives.” Though dismissive of the phoenix-like revival of his fellow countrymen, it’s proved largely unfounded when it comes to the Hollywood leading man. Amongst the showbiz second […]
★★★★☆ As something of a voice of a modern cinema-going generation, British multimedia wunderkind Charlie Lyne has forged a career out of thoughtful irreverence, crossing multiple platforms to make his contemporary and pop culture-savvy voice heard. Serving as critic and […]
★★★★☆ With just three films J.C. Chandor has managed to prove himself a director capable of morphing to suit his subject matter. Margin Call (2011) was dialogue-heavy and cerebral, reflected in the computer screens and shimmering steel and glass of […]
★★☆☆☆ Very Good Girls (2014) has all the trappings of an indie coming-of-age story: a hip soundtrack commandeered by musician Jenny Lewis; fresh-faced and innocent actresses; dreamy cinematography; just a dash of drama to appropriately weight the plot. This is […]
★★★★☆ Stanley Donen could see the writing on the wall. The counter-culture was dawning and it was only a matter of time before the spirit of the Beats and the sexual force of Elvis reached the American cinema. The country […]