THE LEGO BATMAN MOVIE (3D)

2017 DIRECTOR: Chris McKay Batman reigns supreme. Dark, Gothic, self important egotist with serious commitment issues. The Lego Batman Movie could have been little more than a cash in on a popular character from the 2014 surprise hit, The Lego Movie (2014), but instead we get a film which would seem to cement the future…

THE POLICE ACADEMY FRANCHISE – 1984 – 1994

#1 1984 - POLICE ACADEMY Welcome to Police Academy. A raunchy comedy following the exploits of a group of young recruits who in one way or another are normally unsuited for Police work. But obviously, they make it and the rest is history. At least here, we have a film with a story, plot and…

BATTLESHIP POTEMKIN (1925)

1925 DIRECTOR: Sergei Eisenstein "The fictionalised version of the 1905 Revolution" in Russia; that is how this film will be described. The truth is simple: This is a propaganda film, so successful and subversive back in the 1920's that Hitler's regime loved it, but also stopped their own troops from watching it. Banned for years in…

THE GENERAL (1926)

1926 DIRECTOR: Clyde Bruckman & Buster Keaton It has been 90 years since Buster Keaton's classic failed critically, at the box office, as well as being instrumental in stripping Keaton of his creative control over his movies. The General has since become recognised as not only a silent comedic masterpiece, but a directorial and creative one…

THE BIRTH OF A NATION (1915)

1915 DIRECTOR: David Wark (D.W.)Griffiths Beginning life as an adaption of Thomas Dixon Jr.'s Novel, "The Clansman", and originally planned as colour movie to shot in Kinemacolor, controversial from the start, The Birth Of A Nation has been the subject of many an essay and news article; so there is little to say other than…

THE LAST JEDI… BUT WHO?… OR HOW MANY…?

Today the title for this years sure-fire blockbuster, the 8th episode in the 40 year old saga has been announced. Star Wars: Episode VIII: The Last Jedi. But who is it referring too? Luke, Rey or Kylo? Or are we forgetting someone or it just the collective Jedi? Enough said. See you in December...  

THE PASSION OF JOAN OF ARC

1928 DIRECTOR: Carl Theodore Dreyer Silent cinema is not my strongest subject but one which I have been making a concerted effort to learn about over the past decade, but admittedly at a slow pace. The idea of sitting through a silent film can seem to be chore to a modern audience and to be…

THE END OF THE LINE FOR LG 3D?

As I have commented before of this blog, 3D is being slowly but surely abandoned by the mainstream media companies as 4K UHD (Ultra High Definition) not only takes the lead, but seems to be supplanting what has come before. Light loss is par for the course with 3D both in and out of the…

FILM OF THE YEAR ~ 2016

The Film Of The Year for 2016 is... All the films must have been RELEASED in the U.K. between 1st January ~ 31st December 2016 and I MUST have seen and/or rated it on this site previously. TOP FIVE DEADPOOL (10/10) STAR TREK BEYOND (3D) (9/10) ZOOTROPOLIS (ZOOTOPIA) (3D) (8/10) ROGUE ONE: A STAR WARS…

BEN-HUR: THE END OF THE BLU-RAY 3D?

For the first time that I can remember, with the exception of Star Wars: The Force Awakens (2015) and in some respects, The Phantom Menace (1999/2012), last year's epic flop, Ben-Hur, a remake of the classic 1959 remake of the 1925 adaptation of the 1880's novel of the same name, is coming to Blu-ray and…