A Hijacking is written and directed by Tobias Lindholm, the man who previously served as scribe for the TV series Borgen and, more notably, the celebrated small town drama The Hunt starring Mads Mikkelsen. Here he takes control behind the camera as well to bring us the tense tale of Somalian pirates hijacking a cargo vessel and the negotiations … Continue reading Review: A Hijacking
Joachim Lafosse, director of Our Children, certainly enjoys peeping around corners. Early on whilst watching his latest film I came to realise that virtually every shot was from behind somewhere. His camera lurks. His actors become trapped in sections of the screen. Blurred out walls or the backs of car seats squash them into uncomfortable … Continue reading Review: Our Children
Year: 1958 Director: Alfred Hitchcock Stars: James Stewart (John 'Scottie' Ferguson), Kim Novak (Madeleine Elster / Judy Barton), Barbara Bel Geddes (Midge Wood), Tom Helmore (Gavin Elster) Genre: Mystery / Thriller Now sitting firmly atop the pile of Sight And Sound's prestigious greatest films list, Alfred Hitchcock's Vertigo seems to court more critical appraisal than ever … Continue reading Why I Love… #48: Vertigo
"One must not put a loaded rifle on the stage if no one is thinking of firing it." So wrote Chekhov to Aleksandr Semenovich Lazarev. This simple metaphor has endured as a dependable rule about foreshadowing events in fiction, be it in a stage play, a book or a movie. In cinema - especially American … Continue reading Review: Mud
Year: 1973 Director: Jack Hill Stars: Pam Grier (Coffy), Robert DoQui (King George), Booker Bradshaw (Howard Brunswick), William Elliott (Carter), Allan Arbus (Arturo Vitroni), Sid Haig (Omar) Genre: Blaxploitation Like a majority of people who have discovered Coffy over the last 15 years, I came to it thanks to Quentin Tarantino. The celebrated movie magpie cast … Continue reading Why I Love… #47: Coffy
Lunch completed, it continues... If you've started reading here go back. Caught up? Good, because we're not stopping yet... 14:55 pm: The Fast And The Furious: Tokyo Drift (2006) 14:59: Gratuitous upskirt-shot as the director's name appears. Looking classy already. Conspicuous lack of previous 'stars' involved in this installment... 15:00: Wait... are we in high school … Continue reading Pretty Vacancy: Watching 5 Fast And Furious Movies Back-To-Back Part 2
May Bank Holiday and the sun is shining. I live in the West Country in England. Outside are rolling green hills, babbling rivers, breezy beaches. On the air, seagulls ride thermals against cloudless blue. It's a perfect day. ...so, naturally, my housemates and I have assembled in the living room, drawn the curtains, and are … Continue reading Pretty Vacancy: Watching 5 Fast And Furious Movies Back-To-Back Part 1
Year: 1979 Director: Ridley Scott Stars: Sigourney Weaver (Ripley), Tom Skerritt (Dallas), Ian Holm (Ash), John Hurt (Kane), Yaphet Kotto (Parker), Veronica Cartwright (Lambert), Harry Dean Stanton (Brett). Genre: Science Fiction / Horror I recently had the pleasure of introducing a couple that I know to the film Alien. For whatever ridiculous reason, they'd never … Continue reading Why I Love… #46: Alien
