Posts Tagged ‘British cinema’
Heavens Above! Blu-ray Review: Peter Sellers Plays It Straight
Peter Sellers delivers a heart-warming dramatic turn that stands firmly alongside his best comedic performances.
Read MoreI’m All Right Jack Blu-ray Review: Come for the Stars, Stay for the Sparkling Satire
This 1959 British comedy boasts an impressive array of talent headlined by Peter Sellers, but its true strength is its writing.
Read MoreThe Old Oak Blu-ray Review: When the Bough Breaks, the Village May Fall
The Old Oak is a fitting coda to Loach’s career of socialist realism, a final mighty branch on the tree of his life in film.
Read MoreFour Quartets DVD Review: Magnetic, Mesmerizing Solo Stage Performance
Ralph Fiennes puts in an acting masterclass, wringing emotion and thorough understanding out of T.S. Eliot’s frequently inscrutable ramblings.
Read MoreEmily Movie Review: Frances O’Connor’s Directorial Debut Soars to Wuthering Heights
Frances O’Connor reimagines the final years of Emily Brontë’s life in this stunning period drama, heralding her arrival as a creative force to be watched.
Read MoreThe Girl on a Motorcycle Blu-ray Review: Spins Its Stylish Wheels
If ultra-suave Alain Delon with young Marianne Faithfull in a black leather catsuit is enough to rev your engine, the film delivers in spades.
Read MoreIf…. Criterion Collection Blu-ray Review: If Only It Had a Plot
While McDowell shows clear signs of the counterculture fire that would erupt in A Clockwork Orange, his efforts are in service of a clearly lesser film.
Read MoreThe Nan Movie Review: Bad Grandma
While Tate is great as one of her signature characters, some odd decisions derail much of the goodwill for the production.
Read MoreThe Red Shoes Criterion Collection Blu-ray Review: 15 Minutes in Heaven
Although the overall narrative is nothing special, those precious minutes of performance magnificence elevate the film to well-deserved classic status.
Read MoreBlithe Spirit (2020) Blu-ray Review: Bland and Unspirited, But Mann and Fisher Shine
Noel Coward’s play has been adapted for the screen multiple times dating back to 1945, but it’s been long enough since any recent attempt that someone had to make another run at it. While the cast is strong, the conventional direction by Edward Hall is uninspired, making this a fairly unspirited take on the Coward…
Read MoreBritish Noir III DVD Review: A Nice but Slight Look into the Genre
It contains five films from 1940 to 1956 which run the gamut from straight-noir to musical-comedy-noir to melodrama-noir.
Read MoreSXSW 2021 Movie Review: Andrea Riseborough Once Again Shines in ‘Here Before’
Andrea Riseborough easily carries this well-crafted, insidious slow burn thriller about loss.
Read MoreSundance 2021 Review: ‘Censor’ Is a Perceptive Fever Dream
Prano Bailey-Bond’s feature directorial debut commendably balances audience perception of horror with genre mechanics.
Read MoreSaint Maud Movie Review: A Devilishly Terrific Directorial Debut
At 84 minutes, Saint Maud is a twisted, performance-driven look at the human psyche of Biblical proportions.
Read MoreKindred (2020) Movie Review: A Nearly Surface-Level Chiller
Tamara Lawrance carries this viable paranoid thriller with ease and articulacy.
Read MoreCold Light of Day (1989) Blu-ray Review: Portrait of a British Serial Killer
Obscure British serial killer film details the grubby life of a real life (if slightly fictionalized) murderer.
Read MoreMorgan: A Suitable Case for Treatment (1966) Blu-ray Review: Love and Madness
’60s British comedy stars David Warner as a love-sick, gorilla-obsessed artist trying to win back his wife.
Read MoreAn Inspector Calls (1954) Blu-ray Review: More of a Psychological Mystery than Detective Story
Viewers will enjoy digging up the clues along with Inspector Poole to tell the true and complete story of Eva Smith.
Read MoreTheir Finest Hour: 5 British WWII Classics Blu-ray Review: That British Stiff Upper Lip
Five British films about WWII, from home invasion to Dunkirk to the African campaign.
Read MoreTunes of Glory Criterion Collection Blu-ray Review: An Acting Tour de Force
Alec Guinness (with a Scottish brogue) squares off with John Mills in this military drama.
Read MoreHitchcock: British International Pictures Collection Blu-ray Review: Becoming a Master
Five early Hitchcock films come to Blu-ray from Kino Lorber and show the Master of Suspense learning his craft.
Read More63 UP Movie Review: The Best Reality Show of All Time
Michael Apted’s legendary documentary series returns with its latest seven-year installment.
Read MoreIt Always Rains on Sunday Blu-ray Review: A Slice of Post-War London
If you allow yourself to relax and let its myriad of stories wash over you, there is plenty to like.
Read MoreThe Man Between Blu-ray Review: Out of The Third Man’s Shadow
Excellent film noir from Carol Reed might not be as good as “The Third Man,” but it isn’t too far off either.
Read MoreSeven Days to Noon Blu-ray Review: A Very Good Drama
This post-war thriller might not be a white-knuckler, but its attention to detail and observations on humanity make it quite thrilling.
Read MoreAnd Soon the Darkness (Special Edition) Blu-ray Review: And Eventually the Thrills
This very slow moving British thriller takes its time getting to the action but is quite good if you have the patience.
Read MoreDownton Abbey Movie Review: Fans Are Invited Back for a Royal Visit
With only a two-hour run time, it was always going to be hard to get enough screen time for all the main characters, and it was made even harder with most of the stories that focused on new ones.
Read MoreKind Hearts and Coronets Blu-ray Review: An Influential Cinema Landmark
The 1949 black comedy masterpiece from Ealing Studios gets a new upgrade, courtesy of Kino Lorber Studio Classics.
Read MoreBlinded by the Light Movie Review: An Immensely Triumphant Coming-of-Age Tale
A bonafide-crowd pleaser that bursts with emotion.
Read MoreGone to Earth / The Wild Heart Blu-ray Review: One Story Cut Twice
Powell and Pressburger’s melodrama is beautiful to look at but a bit old-fashioned to watch.
Read MoreThe Prisoner (1955) Blu-ray Review: A Forgotten Gem
Not quite a classic, this mostly forgotten Alec Guinness drama gets a much needed spotlight shined on it from Arrow Academy.
Read MoreFour Weddings and a Funeral (25th Anniversary Edition) Blu-ray Review: Glad to Be on the Guest List
It just keeps getting better.
Read MoreDistant Voices, Still Lives Blu-ray Review: Accurately Captures the Battle of the Sexes
A minimalist, but masterful portrait of harrowing family dynamics.
Read MoreTea with the Dames Movie Review: An Absolute Delight
A must-see for anyone who is a fan of these four legendary thespians.
Read MoreHammer Films Double Feature: Maniac / Die! Die! My Darling! Blu-ray Review: How Iconic
Mill Creek pounds out a few more nail-biters from Britain’s famed house of horror.
Read MoreCop-Out (1967) Blu-ray Review: A Boring Stranger in the House
Kino Lorber’s dated mod pic features a drunken James Mason, Bobby Darin as a total creep, and that’s about it.
Read MoreRonin (1998) Blu-ray Review: Welcome Back to Cinematic Reality, Kids
Arrow Video revives John Frankenheimer’s criminally neglected late ’90s gritty crime thriller via a beautiful, all-new 4K scan.
Read MoreStormy Monday (1988) Blu-ray Review: Young Sean Bean Learns How to Make It Sting
Mike Figgis’ impressive feature film debut ‒ also starring Melanie Griffith and Tommy Lee Jones ‒ returns to razzle, dazzle, and jazzle thanks to Arrow Video.
Read MoreTheir Finest Blu-ray Review: One of the Year’s Finest Films
One of the year’s best movies looks to get a new audience on a wonderful Blu-ray.
Read MoreThe Boy Friend (1971) Blu-ray Review: Was This the Precursor to “The Apple”?
Ken Russell’s hallucinogenic homage to Busby Berkeley is just that ‒ and the Warner Archive has made it even trippier via a beautiful (and uncut) restoration.
Read MoreThe Other Hell (1981) / Dark Waters (1994) Blu-rays Review: Breaking Bad Habits
Cursed convents? Possessed prioresses? Severin Films is having nun of that now!
Read More45 Years Criterion Collection Blu-ray Review: The Art of Quiet Devastation
Charlotte Rampling does extraordinary work in the third feature from British filmmaker Andrew Haigh.
Read MorePsychomania Blu-ray Review: Inexplicable Zombie Biker Cult Movie
Bikers come back from the dead, and it’s pretty groovy in this early 70s cult obsession.
Read MoreHaunted Honeymoon (1940) / A Fine Pair / Brotherly Love (1970) DVDs Review: Reverse Power Flux Couplings
Three uniquely different looks at the fine art of bad romances arrive on DVD courtesy the Warner Archive Collection.
Read MoreA Taste of Honey Criterion Collection Blu-ray Review: A Taste of Adolescence
Tony Richardson’s tale of the sweet and sour gifts life delivers to us.
Read MoreAppointment with Crime Blu-ray Review: Tell Crime You’ll Need to Reschedule
A stylish opening sequence is not a harbinger of things to come.
Read MoreFatherland (1986) / Sense and Sensibility (1995) Blu-rays Review: Ch-Ch-Ch-Changes
Two transitionary tales from the West make their HD debut from Twilight Time.
Read MoreTwilight Time Presents: Various Vamps, Visitors, Bats and Vats
As another dreadful holiday season falls upon us, there is perhaps no better time to re-celebrate Halloween with this line-up of killer October chillers.
Read MoreTwilight Time Presents: Rebellion! Turmoil! Endless Talking!
From the hormonally-charged historical wrongdoings of King Henry VIII to David Mamet’s acclaimed verbal diarrhea, this batch of flicks has all bases covered.
Read MoreThe Scorpio Letters DVD Review: Amusing Z-Grade Eurospy Fodder
The only thing poisonous about these letters was found in the Nielsen ratings.
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