Movie Review – Judas And The Black Messiah

Judas And The Black Messiah US (2021) Dir. Shaka King “You can kill a revolutionary but you can’t kill a revolution!” It’s astounding to learn these powerful words came from a 21 year old and not a grizzled veteran dissenter, but Fred Hampton was indeed barely out of his teens when he spoke before a …

Movie Review – The Raven

The Raven US (1935) Dir. Lew Landers Quoth the Raven: ”What have they done to my story?” The third in the trio of films “based” on the works of Edgar Allan Poe from Universal as part of their famed horror universe of the 1930s and 40s. Like the previous two entries, Murders In the Rue …

Movie Review – Blazing Saddles

Blazing Saddles US (1974) Dir. Mel Brooks Mel Brooks turned 95 the other day and to celebrate the BBC showed two of his classic films which I first saw many moons ago. This gave me the chance to watch them again and re-evaluate them through a more mature and critical eye as opposed to just …

Wrestling Review – WWE Wrestlemania Backlash 2021

WWE Wrestlemania Backlash 2021 (Cert 12) 1 DVD (Distributor: Fremantle Media) Running Time: 176 minutes approx. Why Wrestlemania Backlash and not just Backlash? Who knows? I suppose it was felt a more tangible hook was needed to entice fans our maybe it was designed to capitalise on the fact Wrestlemania 37 was held in front …

Blu-Ray Review – Tezuka’s Barbara

Tezuka’s Barbara (Cert 18) 2 Discs DVD/Blu-ray Combo (Distributor: Third Window Films) Running Time: 100 minutes approx. “A woman like the city’s excrement from the millions of people that it consumed and digested. That was Barbara.” Not the most flattering way to describe the woman who is about to change your life but this isn’t …

Movie Review – Cocoon (Kokon)

Cocoon (Kokon) Germany (2020) Dir. Leonie Krippendorff Sorry, no aliens whisking elderly people away to rejuvenate them here, this is an entirely different Cocoon, still symbolic but more literal in its reference by being a coming-of-age tale from Germany. During the sweltering hot Berlin summer of 2018, Nora (Lena Urzendowsky) a shy, plain 14 year-old …

Movie Review – Raya And The Last Dragon

Raya And The Last Dragon US (2021) Dirs. Don Hall & Carlos López Estrada United Kingdom, United Nations, United Sates of America, United Arab Emirates, Leeds United, Manchester United, etc. None of them are actually united at all and never will be for many reasons, making a mockery of the word “united”. Only in cinema …

Movie Review – Gemini

Gemini (Sôseiji) Japan (1999) Dir. Shinya Tsukamoto An old wives tale would have us believe that in the case of twins, one of them is evil and the other good. Not being a twin (can you imagine two of me?) I can’t say how true this is or isn’t, but it certainly makes for good …

Anime Review – Owarimonogatari Part 3

Owarimonogatari Part 3 (Episodes 14-20)(Cert 15) 2 Discs Blu-ray (Distributor: MVM) Running time: 169 minutes approx. Just to show how cruel Nisio Isin is, Owarimonogatari translates to “End Story” yet this franchise continues with STILL more to come, I suspect just to annoy me. And if this series was confusing enough, the third instalment of …

Movie Review – Dear Tenant

Dear Tenant Taiwan (2020) Dir. Cheng Yu-chieh People are their own worst enemies. If they can’t be honest with each other, they’re not going to be honest with themselves and the result is going to be messy. Unfortunately, life is never that simple and keeping things to ourselves is often the safest way to keep …