On Location: New York!

The five boroughs of New York having always been the stuff that movie dreams are made of. The American film industry may have been born across the Hudson River in New Jersey, but quickly moved to Manhattan and by the 1920’s, the city was buzzing with studios producing silent films. Then in 1926, Hollywood sprung

Midnight Cowboy

Midnight Cowboy broke all the rules when it was released in 1969. After a decade dominated by glossy, Technicolor, feel-good musicals, John Schlesinger’s x-rated exposé of shattered dreams amongst the grime and desperation on New York’s mean streets made the entire industry sit up and take notice. It’s not just the only X-rated film to

Lust, Caution

Ang Lee is one of the few directors who can tackle virtually any genre, and with a few exceptions (2003’s The Hulk leaps to mind) come up with something marvellous if not exceptional (Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon, 2000,  Brokeback Mountain, 2005). Lust, Caution is a slow-burning thriller set in WWII Japanese-occupied Shanghai and Hong Kong.

An Angel at My Table

Jane Campion’s delicate, almost leisurely construction of Kiwi Janet Frame’s autobiographies is one of those rare films that draw you completely into its world, so while watching you lose all sense of time and place. Frame’s life unfolds at so naturally, you may not notice the overlap of the three actresses (Alexia Keogh, Karen Fergusson,

The Bothersome Man

Director: Jens Lien Andreas (Trond Fausa Aurvaag) stands alone waiting for a subway, blank faced and despondent. He tries to ignore a couple dispassionately French kissing, but their slurping and grunting fills his head until it is ready to explode, until it is blissfully drowned by an approaching train. He jumps. Suddenly Andreas is the

New York, New York

Martin Scorsese has made more than a dozen films set in New York, New York, but the one that bears the full name of the city was shot on a Hollywood lot – an homage to the MGM musicals of the 40s. You can’t help wondering what he was thinking. It was 1977. The previous

Shoot ‘Em Up

83 minutes long, at least 60 of which are non-stop action! This tongue in cheek actioner starring Clive Owen, Paul Giamatti and Monica Bellucci is an assault on the senses, fuelled by a heavy metal soundtrack featuring Motörhead, AC/DC, and Mötley Crüe and barely enough plot to fill a fifth formers book report. Owen plays

Donnie Darko

When it was released, I described Donnie Darko as David Lynch for teenagers, and then 26 year old writer-director Richard Kelly is Lynch-in-training. That was in 2001. And while Kelly appears to have been a one-hit wonder, his debut feature continues to amaze and delight – a magic realism horror ride, moody and resplendent with

I Served the King of England

This dazzler from the Czech Republic coyly weaves a subtle dash of magic realism into the life of an ordinary little man, a Prague waiter who dreams of becoming a millionaire. We meet Jan Díte (Ivan Barnev and Oldrich Kaiser) as he exits a Czech prison sometime in the 60s, grateful for the amnesty that

Citizen Kane

How do you ‘review’ the film that consistently tops both viewers and critics’ polls as the greatest movie of all time? The Citizen Kane DVD is without doubt, the finest b&w transfer for home video ever, not only is there no trace of film grain and age (except the News on the March, newsreel sections),