Background In 1993, Czechoslovakia dissolved into two independent states: Czech Republic (made up of the Bohemia and Moravia regions) and Slovakia. The 20th Century up until that point had been a turbulent time for the former country. After World War I, it gained independence from the Austro-Hungarian Empire and grew into a socially and economically … Continue reading The European Masterpieces Part 4: Closely Watched Trains (1966 Jiří Menzel)
Us (2019, Monkeypaw Productions and Blumhouse Productions) Written and directed by Jordan Peele. Music by Michael Abels. Featuring Lupita Nyong'o, Winston Duke, Elisabeth Moss, Shahadi Wright Joseph, Evan Alex, and Tim Heidecker. The brilliant Jordan Peele returns to the director’s chair with another horror film. This time about a family holidaying in Santa Cruz, California … Continue reading The Two Reviews: Us and The Ballad of Buster Scruggs
This may be an easy question, but what do Tom Cruise, Jackie Chan and Buster Keaton all have in common? They are of course famous for doing their own stunts, but also they have each broken ankles whilst creating such stunts. The Cruise-meister recently broke his ankle on the set of Mission Impossible – Fallout … Continue reading Looking at Buster Keaton: The Marvel of Early Cinema
Akira Kurosawa (黒沢 明 1910 – 1998) was a master of film craft, and one of the greatest directors of all time. He grew up in Tokyo, watching silent films from around the world and going to see traditional and modern Japanese theatre. He became a painter, and in his 20s got into script writing, … Continue reading Akira Kurosawa – A Master of Film Part 4: I Ran…in Dreams
Mary Queen of Scots (2018 Focus Features and Working Title Films) Directed by Josie Rourke. Featuring Saoirse Ronan, Margot Robbie, David Tennant, Guy Pearce, Jack Lowden and Joe Alwyn. Mary Queen of Scots is a period drama set in the second half of the 16th Century about the troubled reign of Queen Mary of Scotland … Continue reading The Two Reviews: Mary Queen of Scots and The Front Runner
Shoplifters (2018, Gaga Pictures Japan) Directed by Hirokazu Kore-eda. Featuring Lily Franky, Sakura Ando, Mayu Matsuoka, Kairi Jō, Miyu Sasaki and Kirin Kiki. I have always found the award winners from the Cannes Film Festival to be a far better representation of the best films from around the world than the Oscars. Winners of the … Continue reading The Two Reviews: Shoplifters and The Favourite
If you happened to miss the films A Girl Walks Home Alone at Night (released in 2014 and directed by Ana Lily Amirpour) and Under the Shadow (released in 2016 and directed by Babak Anvari), get thee a copy of both immediately and watch them. They are, by my determination at least, two of the … Continue reading Shadows of the Night: Two Progressive Iranian-based Films in the Western Mainstream
Foreword by Robin Stevens Akira Kurosawa (黒沢 明 1910 – 1998) was a master of film craft, and one of the greatest directors of all time. He grew up in Tokyo, watching silent films from around the world and going to see traditional and modern Japanese theatre. He became a painter, and in his 20s … Continue reading Akira Kurosawa – A Master of Film Part 3: Dersu Uzala and the Russian Wilderness
Did you know there is going to be a sequel to Braveheart (1995)? I know! If ever there was a movie which needed a sequel. So many questions were left unanswered. Did Scotland’s nobles universally accept Robert Bruce? How did the writing of the ‘Declaration of Arbroath’ effect the legal position of the Scottish royal … Continue reading Dramatis Scocie – The Effective Use of the Scottish Landscape in Film
Dawson City: Frozen Time (2016, Hypnotic Pictures & Picture Palace Pictures) Directed by Bill Morrison; Produced by Bill Morrison and Madeleine Molyneaux As an archaeologist and a film enthusiast, I have always wanted to explore this topic more – the genuine and artful presentation of the fruits of archaeological discovery on film. There is only … Continue reading The Two Reviews – Documentary Special: Dawson City: Frozen Time and The Newspaperman
