Josef von Sternberg was one of the first independent filmmakers. Even when he did eventually make studio films, he still put his unique stamp on the final product. However, he had burned many bridges by the time of his last film, The Saga of Anatahan, which he co-financed himself with Japanese backers. His is best known for … Continue reading The Saga of Anatahan – Blu-Ray Review
As the title indicates, Hitler: The Last Ten Days is a film about the final days of Hitler in the bunker. If anything, the film shows that his last ten days were filled with boredom in the face of impending invasion by the Russians. The film doesn’t exactly provide any existing details – it is … Continue reading Hitler: The Last Ten Days – Blu-Ray Review
John Frankenheimer is one of my favourite directors, mainly due to his trilogy of films about paranoia in the '60s: The Manchurian Candidate, Seven Days in May and, perhaps the best of them all, Seconds. Frankenheimer did some fine work in the '70s, most notably the four-hour-long The Iceman Cometh, but like many men of his generation he had problems with … Continue reading Ronin – Blu-Ray Review
Panic in the Streets is an early Elia Kazan film–the film he made right before A Streetcar Named Desire, which completely changed his career's trajectory. It's a slightly odd film for Kazan because it utilised expressionist photography and was pretty much a straightforward film noir. It’s usually not held up as one of his best films, but it’s … Continue reading Panic in the Streets – Blu-Ray Review
The Transfiguration is a remarkable little vampire film that had somehow escaped my radar until I was emailed by the PR representative, asking if would I like to cover this Blu-ray release. It played Cannes under Un Certain Regard after the film's director, Michael O'Shea, sent it in simply on the whim—and then was shocked and … Continue reading The Transfiguration – Blu-Ray Review
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