New Films
Saturday 2 September 2017
Possession 1981
Possession 1981
Written and Directed by Andrzej Zulawski who in 1972 directed acclaimed horror drama Diabel – The Devil – Possession is a psychological thriller like no other.
Starring Isabelle Adjani and Sam Neill, the pair play a married couple who are going through a difficult time while raising their young son.
Mark (Sam Neill) growing suspicious of his wife Anna (Isabelle Adjani) infidelity, makes it his mission to gain back control of his family while secretly spying on Anna.
Mark and Anna later separate – due to Anna’s increasingly erratic behaviour, while Anna also frequently disappears to a run-down apartment building in West Berlin. Mark later encounters Heinrich (Heinz Bennent), who he believes is the other man in Anna’s life and the cause of his marriage breakdown.
Things get stranger while Heinrich denies the affair between him and Mark’s wife Anna.
Controversy Possession was originally released in 1981 in France and was heavily edited for US theatrical release. Also, released in the UK, but to very limited cinemas and would later be banned in the UK and infamously dubbed a ‘video nasty’.
Despite the controversy surrounding the films extreme graphic content, which can be accredited to Carlo Rambaldi’s work on the creature design, Possession did receive critical acclaim and would see Isabelle Adjani win Best Actress at the Cannes Film Festival in 1981
Tuesday 22 August 2017
Kids (Larry Clark) 1995
Kids 1995
In 1995 one of the most controversial films of the 90s was previewed at the Cannes film festival Kids Directed by Larry Clark and written by Harmony Korine, tells the story of a group of New York teenagers hanging out during a 24-hour period.
Telly played by (Leo Fitzpatrick) only cares about two things, sex and taking young girls virginities. Telly’s sidekick Casper (Justin Pierce) is a doped up street skater who is equally loathsome. The pair aimlessly wonder the streets of New York City stealing alcohol and looking to score their next high.
Meanwhile, Telly’s ex-girlfriend Jennie played by (Chloë Sevigny) has just come from the local STD clinic with her friend Ruby (Rosario Dawson), only to discover a shocking truth.
A chilling tale of youth living for today, only to have all their tomorrows taken away from them.
Thursday 27 July 2017
Dogtooth
Dogtooth
Written and Directed by Yorgos Lanthimos, Dogtooth is weird, extraordinary and deeply disturbing drama set in Greece focusing on a group of young adults who have been isolated from society and controlled by their overbearing parents since birth. Their Father played by (Christos Stergioglou), has set in motion a series of ‘tall-tails’ about the world beyond the families isolated suburban house, in order to control and protect his children from the modern world. Yellow flowers are zombies and cats are dangerous because they eat people, so the three young adults are told and believe.
However, curiosity takes hold via elements of the modern world, that confuse and spark wonder among them. They watch bizarre homemade videos and old movies on VHS tapes, including Jaws, flashdance and Rocky IV. This amazes them, and the trio start to question life beyond the electric gate.
Dogtooth can be quite funny to watch and at times will resemble a dark-comedy satire. However, other scene are simply too brutal and unbearable to watch. Only saved by the cleverly written storyline by Yorgos Lanthimos, which will keep you watching to the very end.
In Dogtooth there are clear echoes of Pier Paolo Pasolini’s Salò, or the 120 Days of Sodom with it’s direct attack on personal freedom and control in 1930s fascist Italy. Also, hints of Spanish filmmaker Luis Buñuel, for the films surrealist style.
Saturday 22 July 2017
The Hitman’s Bodyguard
The Hitman’s Bodyguard
This summer see the release of this year’s action-packed buddy movie The Hitman’s Bodyguard which promises to be in the same spirit of the Lethal Weapon franchise. Samuel L. Jackson stars as (Darius Kincaid) a former hit man kept under lock and key for his own protection, prior to testifying against the ruthless Dictator Vladislav Dukhovich (Gary Oldman), at the international Court of Justice.
Michael Bryce (Ryan Reynolds) an executive protection agent is assigned to protect Darius Kincaid at all cost, hence our story begins.
Depending on the success of The Hitman’s Bodyguard no doubt the Hollywood exec will be planning a sequel!
Friday 21 July 2017
Xtro: 1982
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Xtro
Way back in the 1980s there was an explosion of ‘creature features’ dubbed the monster movies (US), and in the (UK) they called them video-nasties where most were cut to shreds by the film censer board, or put on the DPP list. Xtro was such a film, perhaps the scene where a woman gives birth to a full-grown man was just the ticket to get the movie dubbed a ‘video nasty’. Although incorrectly labelled a video nasty, Xtro was never officially cut by the BBFC and since been downgraded from cert.18 to cert.15
When released in 1982 UK and 1983 US, Xtro received harsh reviews from the film critics. Mostly slamming it’s confusing story-line, or lack of it. And famously being panned on ‘At the Movies’ with Gene Siskel and Roger Ebert. However, years later the movie has enjoyed a cult status among a new generation of horror / sci-fi fans.
In 2005 the film’s director Harry Bromley Davenport described the film as a complete mess, with his original ending of clones of Tony being canned by Robert Shaye of New Line Cinema. Many other conflicts of during the production process would pursue, so it’s quite clear why the film was so confusing to viewers.
What Xtro lacked in story, it certainly made up with an impressive cast of actors - Philip Sayer The Hunger, Bernice Stegers City of Women and Maryam d’Abo, who later went on to become a ‘Bond Girl’ in the The Living Daylights. By no means is Xtro a great movie, but it’s not an entirely bad movie either. There are a lot of elements in Xtro that make it very watchable, however confusing the storyline, which in my opinion has kept viewers interested in this film after so many years.
Wednesday 19 July 2017
David Lynch: The Art Life
David Lynch The Art Life
When one thinks of David Lynch, you immediately think of Twin Peaks, the hugely successful tv mini-series which only ran for 2 seasons (1990 – 1991). However, on a deeper level here’s a man that has an impressive body of work, most notably Eraserhead 1977 a surrealist horror film noir, which echo’s influences of 1920s Dadaist film. And then there’s The Elephant Man 1980 nominated for 8 Oscars and probably John Hurt’s best performance as a screen actor. Speed up 4 years and we have Dune 1984 – the ‘big budget’ sci-fi action flick that flopped at the box office, and still raises debate on whether it’s his best or worst picture, and years after has spawned many different extended or special edition cuts, that if you have three plus hours to spare, makes interesting viewing.
In The Art life, David takes you on a journey through his early years growing up in small town Philadelphia USA. His influences and his love of painting. Remarkably, David Lynch is a highly accomplished painter in the style of Neo Expressionism, who can paint his subject matter in different ranges and colors.
A great documentary that sheds light on a very private individual, in my opinion, one of the last true great American cinema directors alive.
Monday 17 July 2017
Atomic Blonde
Charlize Theron stars in her latest picture Atomic Blonde sent in 1980s Berlin during the height of the Cold War. She’s an undercover MI6 agent Lorraine Broughton on a mission to investigate a missing list of spies. Typically along the way Lorraine teams up with the un-cavailer David Percival (James McCoy) to help her through a sinister game Spy vs. Spy.
Directed by David Leitch who has an impressive career as a stunt coordinator and also linked to directing Deadpool 2, Atomic Blonde certainly won’t be light on the action.
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