Movie Review – Hard Hit

Hard Hit (Balshinjehan) Korea (2021) Dir. Kim Chang-Ju Ever had one of those days were nothing seems to go right? It starts off normal enough then one little thing sets of a chain of events that results in disaster; you know what I am talking about. As annoying as this is, I think we get …

Movie Review – The Man Who Sold His Skin

The Man Who Sold His Skin (ar-rajul allaḏī bāʿa ẓahrihu) Tunisia (2020) Dir. Kaouther Ben Hania Artistic freedom - it’s a phrase we hear quite often from creative people at the mercy of the bean counters in their chosen field to continue to produce commercial work when the artist has other ideas. Freedom itself is …

200,000 Hits!

  Wow! Back in 2017, five years after starting this site when I reached the 100,000 hits milestone, I did conclude the post marking this achievement by suggesting maybe the next milestone of 200,000 hits would happened in five years time. After so many of my regular readers seem to have left blogging or dropped …

Movie Review – Warriors Two

Warriors Two (Zan xian sheng yu zhao qian Hua) Hong Kong (1978) Dir. Sammo Hung The 1970s were a transitional era for martial arts cinema, with Bruce Lee giving it a kick up the backside at the start, and by the end, a new generation were keen to modernise for the 1980s. Sammo Hung was …

Anime Review – Over The Sky

Over The Sky (Kimi wa kanata) Japan (2020) Dir. Yoshinobu Sena Regrets can be worth having in order to make us strive to be better people - in theory at least - so locking these experiences away from our memories could potentially prove to be counterproductive. For example, imagine dying then realising you could have …

Cinema Release – Parallel Mothers

Parallel Mothers (Cert 15) Theatrical (Distributor: Pathé) Running Time: 123 minutes approx. Bloodlines are not just our way of keeping a family name or heritage alive but to ensure history is never forgotten. The past is often buried to advantage the few, but as times change, questions are asked by successive generations who want answers …

Movie Review – We Made A Beautiful Bouquet

We Made A Beautiful Bouquet (Hanataba mitaina koi wo shita) Japan (2021) Dir. Nobuhiro Doi Forgive the dreary repetition but I don’t know, nor never will, if there is such a thing as the perfect romantic relationship, where compatibility with your partner is absurdly flawless. Cinema, and fiction in general, is exceptionally good at depicting …

Movie Review – The Suicide Squad

The Suicide Squad US (2021) Dir. James Gunn You may recall back in 2016 a film with a similar title appeared and whilst it did well at the box office, it was critically panned. Yet the inevitable sequel was proposed with the same director and cast but that fell through. A significant changing of the …

Movie Review – Deerskin

Deerskin (Le daim) France (2019) Dir. Quentin Dupieux Ah, the midlife crisis - when a man reaches that point where they try to reclaim their youth. Whether a new car, laughably contemporary image, or hooking up with a younger woman, the only guarantee is the result won’t be pleasant. Georges (Jean Dujardin) has split from …

Theatrical/VOD Review – A Hero

A Hero (Cert 12) Theatrical/VOD (Distributor: Amazon Prime) Running Time: 128 minutes approx. “Do the right thing”. A moral dilemma with no correct answer - circumstances will differ and sometimes doing what should be done could make matter worse for someone else, whether morally justified or not. Alternatively, doing the right thing may not be …