Joint Security Area, or J.S.A for short, was the first film director Park Chan-wook made that gained any traction in the west. It came out just as the Tartan Asia Extreme label was becoming very popular—that label became synonymous with Asian genre cinema, to the extent that people who didn't even grow up during the … Continue reading Joint Security Area – Blu-Ray Review
Investigation of a Citizen Above Suspicion is a savage satire on corruption, bureaucracy, and authoritarianism. Director Elio Petri concocted a work that picked apart the weaknesses and failures of Italian policing, merged with tendencies the powerful have towards wanting more control. It's a clever use of Kafka-esque ideas, used within a very clear and specific … Continue reading Investigation of a Citizen Above Suspicion – Blu-Ray Review
The Don is Dead is a quickie studio film made to capitalise on the success of The Godfather. It was directed by Richard Fleischer, a great old-school,no-bullshit workman director who also made some of my favourite films, such as Soylent Green, 20,000 Leagues Under The Sea and Compulsion. This movie came out after the aforementioned … Continue reading The Don is Dead – Blu-Ray Review
The '90s was a strange period in Paul Schrader's career, following on from its early heights in the '70s through to his magnum opus Mishima: A Life in Four Chapters. The New Hollywood was long dead by the time that Schrader got back from his adventure in Japan while making that film, which he followed … Continue reading Light Sleeper – Blu-Ray Review
Erik the Viking is one of the films that Terry Jones of Monty Python directed solo, and it gives you a clue as to why Terry Gilliam ended up being the more prolific director. Jones, who recently passed away, was best known for being the ‘British Terry’ in the comedy group. The two Terries made Monty Python and the Holy Grail together. When Life … Continue reading Erik the Viking – Blu-Ray Review
