BEN HUR (1907) – REVIEW

1907 DIRECTOR: Harry T. Morey, Sidney Olcott & Frank Rose 109 years ago, the first adaptation of General Lew Wallace's novel was committed to celluloid. But this is not the epic of 1925, nor the better known Oscar winning MGM classic from 1959. In this year, of the latest theatrical remake, the first Ben Hur…

THE FORCE AWAKENS IN 3D, AT LAST!

Finally! Clearly milking Star Wars' revival for all its worth, Disney have finally announced the 3D release of last year's hit, with a UK release date on October 31st. In time for Christmas as well as the next movie of the franchise, Rogue One: A Star Wars Story, which hits Cinemas on December 16th. This…

13 HOURS: THE SECRET SOLDIERS OF BENGHAZI

2015 DIRECTOR: Michael Bay This film has made little impact, so little in fact, that it only really came to my attention when it appeared on Blu-ray a month or so ago. I am a fan of Michael Bay, the pariah of the movie industry, though I believe that he is a stylish and popular…

EVEREST (3D)

2015 DIRECTOR: Baltasar Kormákur Everest tells the story of the tragic ascent of the mountain in 1996, dubbed the "1996 Mount Everest Disaster" in which several climbers lost their lives. The story is tragic, true and well documented as one of the worst disasters in the mountain's recent climbing history but how does this film tell that…

CINERAMA 2.0 (aka THE BARCO ESCAPE FORMAT)

As many nEoFILM's followers will no doubt be aware, I am a HUGE fan of Cinerama, the defunct and some may rightly say, the failed format which was used in theatres between 1952 and 1963, in its truest sense at least. Projecting three full frame 35mm images onto a 146 degree curved widescreen, the three…

ENCOUNTERS IN THE THIRD DIMENSION (3D)

1999 DIRECTOR:  Ben Stassen, Sean MacLeod Phillips May contain spoilers! ...Or Encounter In The Thrid Dimension.... NO! There is no spelling mistakes, okay well there is a deliberate one, one which appears in the film's title as a moment of, (cough) comedy... Originally presented back in 1999 on duel-strip 70mm IMAX 3D, this short 40…

ATTILA THE HUN

1954 DIRECTOR: Pietro Francisci This is a hard movie to see. Better known as Attila in it's native Italy, yet the Derran Super 8 release which I saw was called Attila The Hun and also dubbed into English, a version whcih I have to find on home media. Starring Anthony Quinn, (Qvinn) and Sofia Loren,…

BOWLING FOR COLUMBINE

2002 DIRECTOR: Michael Moore May contain spoilers! Michael Moore's chilling examination of the American love affair with their guns and the devastating consequences thereof, Bowling For Columbine takes its title from the infamous event in which two boys who would go to their high school on the 20th April 1999 and murder ten students and one…

TITANIC (1953)

1953 DIRECTOR: Jean Negulesco Of all the Titanic movies, this Hollywood attempt from 1953 must surly stand as one of the worst, even standing next to the appalling Nazi propaganda version from 1943! I would not even call this a truncated version, rather and rushes and lackadaisical re-telling of the disaster, in which there are heroes,…

REVOLUTIONARY ROAD

2008 DIRECTOR: Sam Mendes I find it difficult to say how I took this film. On one hand it is a contemporary story of a failing relationship which happens to be set in the 1950 post war America and on the other, it is a depressing suburban drama which shares the tone with the 2002…