The first couple of films in this collection were made in the 1960s, before Martin Scorsese had made his first feature, Who’s That Knocking at My Door? What’s a Nice Girl Like You Doing in a Place Like This? and It’s Not Just You, Murray! were student films, and The Big Shave was completed the same year as … Continue reading Blu-Ray Review – Scorsese Shorts
Violent Cop Slow, constant, steady. Violent Cop is a contemplative movie, even as ruthless masculinity courses through its veins. This is a film about an unorthodox, dirty cop but is very tranquil for a movie of that kind. It shows the calmness of letting life happen, and through that comes an acceptance of violence. The bone-shattering violence … Continue reading Blu-Ray Review – Takeshi Kitano Collection (Violent Cop / Boiling Point / Sonatine)
Britannia Hospital is the final film in what is an incredibly loose trilogy built around the character of Mick Travis, played in all three films by Malcolm McDowell. It's undoubtedly the worst film in the "so-called trilogy" (as McDowell refers to it as such in O Lucky Man! commentary track), but when you are following up two masterpieces … Continue reading Blu-Ray Review – Britannia Hospital
Criss Cross is a great noir from Robert Siodmak, who was one of the key directors during the noir era. It reunited Burt Lancaster with Siodmak, the director who made him a star with The Killers, which was a very loosely based on a Ernest Hemingway short story. It was also one of, if not the only, … Continue reading Blu-Ray Review – Criss Cross
Merry Christmas, Mr. Lawrence was directed by noted Japanese auteur Nagisa Ōshima, who was at the peak of his career when he made this. He was riding high after winning best director at the Cannes Film Festival for Empire of Passion, which is where he met the fantastic and very nice producer Jeremy Thomas. That year at Cannes, … Continue reading Blu-Ray Review – Merry Christmas, Mr. Lawrence
