Amour Fou, 2014.Written and Directed by Jessica Hausner. Starring Christian Friedel, Birte Schnoeink, Stephan Grossmann and Katharina Schuttler.SYNOPSIS:Berlin, the Romantic Era. Young poet Heinrich wishes to conquer the inevitability of death through love. After initially being refused to form a suicide pact with his cousin, he meets the young and impressionable romantic Henriette, the wife […]
DVD Review – Dying of the Light (2014)
Dying of the Light, 2014.Written and Directed by Paul Schrader. Starring Nicolas Cage, Anton Yelchin, Irene Jacob, Victor Webster and Alexander Karim.SYNOPSIS:Burned out CIA operative Evan Lake (Nicolas Cage) is forced into early retirement due to a degenerative medical diagnosis. Aided by an up and coming field agent Milton Schultz (Anton Yelchin) he uses his […]
DVD Review – Tommy (2014)
Tommy, 2014.Directed by Tarik Saleh. Starring Moa Gammel, Ola Rapace, Lykke Li, Johan Rabaeus, Alexej Manvelov, Alexander Stocks and Inez Buckner.SYNOPSIS:A week before Christmas, Estelle lands at Arlanda Airport. A year earlier, she had left Stockholm on the run with her husband Tommy and their daughter… Focusing on the grim underbelly of Stockholm’s criminal networks and […]
Blu-ray Review – The Manchurian Candidate (1962)
The Manchurian Candidate, 1962.Directed by John Frankenheimer. Starring Laurence Harvey, Frank Sinatra, Janet Leigh, Angela Lansbury, Henry Silver and James Gregory. SYNOPSIS:A former Korean War POW is brainwashed by Communists into becoming a political assassin. But another former prisoner may know how to save him. Exploring the extremes of cold war paranoia in a stylish cloak […]
Movie Review – The Duke of Burgundy (2014)
The Duke of Burgundy, 2014.Directed by Peter Strickland. Starring Sidse Babett Knudsen, Chiara D’Anna, Fatma Mohamed, Eugenia Caruso and Monica Swinn.SYNOPSIS: Two lovers engage in a ritualistic passage of behaviour that brings one close to obsession and one looking for a way out… Peter Strickland is without a shadow of a doubt one of the most exceptional filmmakers […]
Movie Review – Snow in Paradise (2014)
Snow in Paradise, 2014.Directed by Andrew Hulme. Starring Frederick Schmidt, Martin Askew, David Spinx, Aymen Hamdouchi, Claire-Louise Cordwell, Ashley Chin, Joel Beckett and Clive Brunt.SYNOPSIS:Dave’s a petty criminal living on drugs and violence in East London. When his actions kill his best friend, he’s propelled into feelings of shame and remorse. Discovering Islam, he begins […]
Blu-ray Review – The Killing (1956)
The Killing, 1956.Directed by Stanley Kubrick. Starring Sterling Hayden, Coleen Gray, Vince Edwards, Jay C.Flippen, Elisha Cook Jr, Marie Windsor, Ted de Corsia and Timothy Carey.SYNOPSIS:Seven men are intent on executing the perfect robbery and taking a racetrack for two million dollars. But nothing goes quite as planned…Kubrick’s third feature was something of a make […]
Blu-ray Review – Thief (1981)
Thief, 1981.Written and Directed by Michael Mann. Starring James Caan, Tuesday Weld, James Belushi, Willie Nelson, Dennis Farina, William Petersen and Robert Prosky.SYNOPSIS:A professional safecracker’s plan for going straight spirals out-of-control when he becomes indebted to a crime boss.The limited Blu-ray slipcase edition of Michael Mann’s theatrical film début Thief (1981) comprises a whole host of insightful […]
Blu-ray Review – Stations of the Cross (2014)
Stations of the Cross (Kreuzweg), 2014.Directed by Dietrich Brüggemann. Starring Lea van Acken, Moritz Knapp, Lucie Aron, Florian Stetter, Anna Brüggemann and Franziska Weisz.SYNOPSIS:The fourteen-year-old Maria is part of an extreme Roman Catholic community. Devoted to the idea of becoming as like Jesus as possible, she prescribes herself a spiritual course of action that clashes with her everyday […]
DVD Review – A Most Wanted Man (2014)
A Most Wanted Man, 2014.Directed by Anton Corbijn. Starring Philip Seymour Hoffman, Rachel McAdams, Willem Dafoe, Daniel Brühl, Robin Wright, Grigoriy Dobrygin, Derya Alabora and Nina Hoss. SYNOPSIS:A Chechen Muslim illegally immigrates to Hamburg, where he gets caught in the international war on terror. With this release Corbijn has once again proven himself to be a […]
