A Matter Of Interpretation (Ggumboda haemong)

A Matter Of Interpretation (Ggumboda haemong) Korea (2014) Dir. Lee Kwang-Kuk “I had a strange but lovely time” Whilst I didn’t fully get what was going on this elliptical tale of dreams, their meanings and how they can influence our lives the above line spoken within is a somewhat accurate way of summing up my …

Godzilla: Planet Of The Monsters (Godzilla: Kaijuu Wakusei)

Godzilla: Planet Of The Monsters (Godzilla: Kaijuu Wakusei) Japan (2017) Dirs. Hiroyuki Seshita & Kobun Shizuno The Japanese version of the King Of Monsters is back already following his most recent big screen excursion Shin Godzilla but this time it is in animation form as part of a new trilogy of films, distributed via Netflix …

Purple Butterfly (Zi hudie)

Purple Butterfly (Zi hudie) China (2003) Dir. Lou Ye To arthouse or not to arthouse, that is the question. Revenge dramas are hardly known for their compatibility with poetic cinema, and while directors don’t have to stick rigidly to established templates, given the usual intricacy of the plots, it helps if your audience has half …

Space Amoeba (Gezora, Ganime, Kameba: Kessen! Nankai no daikaijû)

Space Amoeba (Gezora, Ganime, Kameba: Kessen! Nankai no daikaijû) Japan (1970) Dir. Ishiro Honda Where is Sir David Attenborough when you need him? He’d be a much greater help to the protagonists of this later entry from the classic era of Kaiju movies from Japan than the so-called expert assigned to the role here. What …

My Life As A Courgette (Ma vie de Courgette)

My Life As A Courgette (Ma vie de Courgette) Switzerland/France (2016) Dir. Claude Barras Aside from the surreal French/Belgian A Town Called Panic and some segments in The ABCs Of Death horror anthologies, I can’t recall seeing a stop-motion animation film that covers adult issues in such an unapologetically frank manner. This doesn’t exclude younger …

Dr. Jekyll And Mr. Hyde

Dr. Jekyll And Mr. Hyde US (1920) Dir. John S. Robertson There have been many, many adaptations of Robert Louis Stevenson's classic 1886 novella The Strange Case Of Dr Jekyll And Mr Hyde, spanning all forms of entertainment. Despite the vintage of this celebrated effort, it wasn’t the first - or even the only one …

The Levelling

The Levelling UK (2016) Dir. Hope Dickson Leach Families are supposed to be the ones we can count on in our lives and be the ones we can talk to when things are tough. But what happens when they are the ones who shut you out and are no longer communicating? That is probably the …

Monster Hunt

  Monster Hunt (Cert 12) 1 Discs DVD/Blu-ray (Distributor: Manga Entertainment) Running Time: 117 minutes approx. In what must be a conclusive sign that China’s desire to rival Hollywood on the international film front is practically complete, this family friendly CGI fantasy was at one point the highest grossing film in Chinese history until usurped …

The Battleship Island

The Battleship Island (Cert 15) 1 Disc DVD (Distributor: Precision Pictures) Running Time: 127 minutes approx. “Dirty Koreans. You should be thankful!” A typically blinkered rant from a power crazed Japanese officer in this epic Korean box office hit that ruffled the sensitivities of many right-wing Japanese commentators in depicting another shameful, hitherto covered up …

Charade

Charade US (1963) Dir. Stanley Donen In what is surely a greater tribute to the man himself than the films in question, many cinematic offerings have had the lofty label of “The Best Film Hitchcock Never Directed” foisted upon them. Two of the more well known ones to actually deserve this epithet are Henri-Georges Clouzot’s …