Dog Pound, 2010. Directed by Kim Chapiron. Starring Adam Butcher, Shane Kippel, Mateo Morales, Slim Twig, Lawrence Bayne, Taylor Poulin, Dewshane Williams and Trent McMullen. SYNOPSIS: Three young offenders are sent to the Enola Vale Youth Correctional Center, which they soon discover to be a training ground for violence, aggression and bureaucratic incompetence. French writer-director […]

With his latest feature Black Swan currently on release in North America, Trevor Hogg profiles the career of filmmaker Darren Aronofsky in the first of a two-part feature… “When I was a kid, me and my sister and friends used to put on these little shows,” recalled American moviemaker Darren Aronofsky, the son of two […]

The Undercover War (a.k.a. Réfractaire), 2009. Directed by Nicolas Steil. Starring Grégoire Leprince-Ringuet, Arthur Dupont, Guillaume Gouix, Pierre Niney, Carlo Brandt, Marianne Basler and Judith Davis. SYNOPSIS: In Nazi-occupied Luxembourg a young man chooses to embark upon a clandestine life in the Resistance and joins other deserters in an abandoned mine. The Undercover War was […]

Gary Collinson selects his Essential Movie Supervillains… If there’s one thing any good superhero needs it’s a strong nemesis; someone who can push them to the very limits as they set about realising their diabolical plans for world domination. From the A-listers of Batman’s Rogues Gallery to classic Marvel bad guys such as Doctor Doom […]

Following the recent passing of director Irvin Kershner, Trevor Hogg explores the development of Star Wars: Episode V – The Empire Strikes Back… “For many fans and cinephiles, Empire is the best of the Star Wars movies, dark and enigmatic – the film noir of the saga,” writes author J.W. Rinzler in the introduction of […]

Family Guy: It’s a Trap! Directed by Peter Shin. Featuring the voice talents of Seth MacFarlane, Alex Borstein, Seth Green, Mila Kunis Mike Henry, Patrick Warburton and Dee Bradley Baker. SYNOPSIS: Return of the Jedi gets the Family Guy treatment as Han Solo (Peter), Chewbacca (Brian), Princess Leia (Lois) and Luke Skywalker (Chris) continue their […]

Gary Collinson selects his Essential Movie Superheroes… Although the comic-book superhero was generally overlooked by the movie industry until Richard Donner’s Superman: The Movie (1978) made you believe a man could fly, Hollywood failed to capitalise on this success over the next couple of decades and a stigma soon became attached to the genre. Save […]

Trevor Hogg profiles the career of legendary filmmaker Francis Ford Coppola in the fifth of a five-part feature… read parts one, two, three and four. Shot over a course of eighty-six days, Youth Without Youth (2007) is a cinematic adaptation of the novella by Mircea Eliade. Struck by lightning, a timid seventy year old academic […]

Deep Red a.k.a. The Hatchet Murders (Italian: Profondo Rosso), 1975. Directed by Dario Argento. Starring David Hemmings, Gabriele Lavia, Daria Nicolodi, Macha Meril, Glauco Mauri and Clara Calamai. SYNOPSIS: A music teacher investigates a series of brutal murders by a mysterious, hatchet-wielding psychopath. After making his name domestically with the “animal trilogy” of The Bird […]

Trevor Hogg profiles the career of legendary filmmaker Francis Ford Coppola in the fourth of a five-part feature… read parts one, two and three. “[Preston Tucker] developed plans for a car way ahead of its time in terms of engineering; yet the auto industry at large stubbornly resisted his innovative ideas,” remarked moviemaker Francis Ford […]