Movie Review – Rocky II

Rocky II US (1979) Dir. Sylvester Stallone In 1976, a relative nobody wrote a script about an underdog boxer shocking the world that nobody wanted to make. The film itself was an underdog, originally felt to be a flop that another film would absorb with its success. Instead, nobody remembers New York, New York but …

Movie Review – Men

Men UK (2022) Dir. Alex Garland Apparently, we chaps are all the same according to women. I don’t think that is true as we come in shapes, sizes, ages, creeds and colours which is a glaringly obvious way to expose the flaw in this assertion. Of course, they are referring to the emotional aspect of …

Blu-ray Review – A Woman Kills

A Woman Kills (Cert 15) 1 Disc Blu-ray (Distributor: Radiance Films) Running Time: 69 minutes approx. Release Date – February 6th I’m not going to lie to you, this is one of the trickiest films I’ve ever had to review. Had I just been able to watch it then move on that would have been …

Movie Review – Liza The Fox-Fairy

Liza The Fox-Fairy (Liza, a rókatündér) Hungary (2015) Dir. Károly Ujj Mészáros Romantic cinema has always propagated the idea that people who are unlucky in love are subject to a curse that hampers their chances of meeting their soul mate, and true love will break it. This is a crock - it is because we …

Movie Review – The Battle at Lake Changjin: Water Gate Bridge

The Battle at Lake Changjin: Water Gate Bridge (Chang jin hu zhi shui men qiao) China (2022) Dir. Tsui Hark Because the UK Blu-ray of this film has been re-titled The Battle at Water Gate Bridge, I didn’t realise this was a sequel to 2021’s Chinese Communist Party-commissioned epic The Battle at Lake Changjin until …

Movie Review – The Audition

The Audition (Das Vorspiel) Germany (2019) Dir. Ina Weisse You will be familiar with the maxim “those who can, do, those who can’t, teach”, which, if you think about it, is a terrifying prospect, putting our educational hopes in the hands of a professional failure. Imagine if it was something vital like heart surgery. Fortunately, …

Anime Review – Violet Evergarden: The Movie

Violet Evergarden: The Movie Japan (2020) Dir. Taichi Ishidate One of the more interesting anime series of recent years comes to an end in this epic - by which I mean bum-numbing - film, in the first theatrical outing for Kyoto Animation following the tragic fire at their studios in 2019. Unlike most linear franchise …

Movie Review – Never Gonna Snow Again

Never Gonna Snow Again (Sniegu juz nigdy nie bedzie) Poland (2020) Dirs. Małgorzata Szumowska & Michał Englert It’s all in the hands. Being a masseur, I mean. It is amazing how a little kneading of the flesh here and there can bring so much relief and relaxation to us, which must surely put practitioners of …

Movie Review – The Man Standing Next

The Man Standing Next (Namsanui bujangdeul) Korea (2020) Dir. Woo Min-ho Power - everyone wants it but is it worth having? There are usually two things that make being in charge a hard job: that someone else wants your spot, and not everybody will like your decisions. And if your decisions prove unpopular, it may …

Movie Review – The Last 10 Years

The Last 10 Years (Yomei 10 Nen) Japan (2022) Dir. Michihito Fujii   “Oh life is bigger It's bigger than you And you are not me” To be fair, REM, life is bigger than all of us which is why some us don’t know what to do with it. Others sadly don’t get the chance …