CineVue
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DVD Review: ‘Late September’
★☆☆☆☆ In 2007, Jon Sanders and Nora Hoppe wrote The Belgrade Manifesto, lamenting the stagnation of cinematic language and encouraging other directors to embrace the digital revolution. This all sounds exciting and with filmmakers such as Aki Kaurismäki, Gareth Evans, and Alexander Sokurov signing it, one would think it would be. It’s a shame then,…
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DVD Review: ‘Free Men’
★★☆☆☆ In war, there are many indignant grey areas suppressed from widespread knowledge, tacit actualities that rarely see the light of day. Whilst Jeremy Isaacs’ gloriously outdated World at War series and Downfall (2004) skits are enough for some, there are a handful of discerning filmmakers dead-set on calling attention to the tales of the…
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DVD Review: ‘El Bulli: Cooking in Progress’
★★☆☆☆ Getting to see the processes behind Heston Blumenthal’s wacky culinary experiments on various television shows is something that many members of the public thoroughly enjoy. You might think then, that the chance to peek behind the scenes at a thee Michelin-starred restaurant in Catalonia, Spain, that is considered one of the finest purveyors of…
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DVD Review: ‘Dark Horse’
★★☆☆☆ Writer/director Todd Solondz returns after a brief 3-year hiatus with Dark Horse (2011) – a film that takes a darkly droll approach into exploring the darker side of human behaviour. The film centres on Abe (Jordan Gelber), a socially awkward, overweight and toy collector thirty-something who lives in the confines of his parents’ house…
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Sponsored Video: Virgin Media presents Shorts 2012
For a fifth consecutive year, this September (up until the climactic award ceremony on 8 November) Virgin Media will once again be running its Shorts filmmaking competition, now firmly established as the biggest of its kind here in the UK. Throughout the history of cinema, short-form filmmaking has helped to blood-in some of the world’s…
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Blu-ray Review: ‘Lady Snowblood 1 & 2’
★★★☆☆ It’s been some forty years since Meiko Kaji first sprayed gore across the snowy ground as she was introduced to the world in Shito Fukijawa’s cult hit Lady Snowblood (1973). The film, based on a manga comic of the same name, went on to spawn one sequel, Lady Snowblood 2: Love Song of Vengeance…
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DVD Review: ‘The Cabin in the Woods’
★★★★★ “I’m on a reality TV show! My mum is gonna think I’m such a burnout”, states Marty (Fran Kranz), our pot-smoking guide through the warped world of The Cabin in the Woods (2011). The fact that he spends most of Drew Goddard’s film high seems appropriate in the face of the full plot. He’s…
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Interview: Olivier Nakache, Eric Toledano, ‘Untouchable’
Olivier Nakache and Eric Toledano have been writing and directing films with each other since 1995. Their latest collaboration, French Oscar hopeful Untouchable (2011), has been a worldwide hit, breaking box office records and winning notable awards. The movie tells the story of the friendship between affluent paraplegic Philippe (François Cluzet) and his carer from…
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Film Review: ‘Tower Block’
★★☆☆☆ Starring British actress Sheridan Smith and following its World Premiere at this year’s Film4 FrightFest, James Nunn and Ronnie Thompson make their directorial debuts this week with low budget horror Tower Block (2012). Chief protagonist Becky (Smith) lives in a decaying London council block, which is doomed to be demolished in the very near…
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Film Review: ‘Santa Sangre’
★★★★★ Alejandro Jodorowsky’s Santa Sangre (1989) is the ultimate example of cult cinema that transcends its meagre cultural standing- an avant garde horror with all the surreal twists of a vivid and harrowing nightmare, played out in an assured and intelligent manner. Based around the lingering repercussions of adolescent trauma, Santa Sangre follows Fenix (played…