Curse of the Golden Flower is a Chinese film directed by Zhang Yimou, who also did House of Flying Daggers and Hero. It’s based on an old play from the 1930s called Thunderstorm, by Cao Yu, although very clearly the story is basically King Lear. Thunderstorm has been adapted many times previously, including as a … Continue reading Curse of the Golden Flower – Blu-Ray Review
Robert Bresson made Mouchette a year after Au hasard Balthazar. It’s about a young girl , the Mouchette of the title, her miserable life and all the shitty stuff that happens to her. Made in his typical minimalistic style, the cast features mainly non-professional actors. It’s deeply depressing, ad has a slightly religious aspect as … Continue reading Mouchette – Blu-Ray Review
Somehow this film has spawned a massive franchise over the years, with five direct-to-video sequels, a DTV prequel, a TV show in 1993, and a TV pilot by Vincenzo Natali that never made it to the air, including the most recent sequel coming out just a few weeks ago. Which is kind of bizarre because … Continue reading Tremors – Blu-Ray Review
Roadgames is one of the more notable Ozploitation movies. Directed by Richard Franklin, who at the time was called “the Australian Alfred Hitchcock”—which I think is being a bit too kind to him. Franklin also directed Patrick, which along with Mad Max was one of the first films to really break out of Australia and … Continue reading Roadgames – Blu-Ray Review
A Soldier's Story is a film Norman Jewison made in 1984, which was based on the play A Soldier's Play by Charles Fuller. Fuller’s play won the Pulitzer Prize for Drama, and remains his best-known work, no doubt due to the film adaptation,which Fuller also wrote. The film is kind of a companion piece to … Continue reading A Soldier’s Story – Blu-Ray Review
