God’s lonely man: ‘Taxi Driver’

In 1976, Evening News reported a film had been released that was ‘as gory as A Clockwork Orange and Straw Dogs’. Critic Leonard Maltin states that it is a ‘gory, cold-blooded story of a sick man’s lurid descent into violence’ and slammed the film as ‘ugly and unredeeming’. Yet, in 1976, it won the Palme … Continue reading God’s lonely man: ‘Taxi Driver’ →

Desert Plains and Smokin’ Pistols: ‘Day of Anger’

You know how it goes: the mysterious stranger rides into town seeking vengeance for some past wrong-doing and takes on the gang that runs the show. But you add a jazzy Riz Ortolani score and an Italian director and you have an entertaining film that has been overshadowed by the giants of the spaghetti western … Continue reading Desert Plains and Smokin’ Pistols: ‘Day of Anger’ →

The Oilman with the Oscar: ‘There Will be Blood’

Paul Thomas Anderson’s There Will be Blood may be a decade old, but its potency as a piece of thought-provoking cinema has been unchallenged by time. Set in a changing world as oil becomes a draw for profit, the beautifully captured landscapes of the Texan desert, that roll across the screen like a Rembrandt, give … Continue reading The Oilman with the Oscar: ‘There Will be Blood’ →

Good times for Drew Goddard: ‘Bad Times at the El Royale’

It’s been a long seven years, but Drew Goddard’s sixties-set noir-styled thriller has shown us that his work only gets better with time. Goddard’s 2011 debut Cabin in the Woods was widely hailed as a successful piece of horror cinema, and his latest release, Bad Times at the El Royale, has more than lived up … Continue reading Good times for Drew Goddard: ‘Bad Times at the El Royale’ →

“I am reality”: Oliver Stone’s grit-filled icon, ‘Platoon’

It is obvious that the Vietnam War sub-genre has been a haven for fantastic films, with Kubrick’s Full Metal Jacket and Coppola’s Apocalypse Now being the heavyweights of them all. I had always thought of Platoon as the “runt of the litter” – seemingly a little less fleshed out with symbolism – until I recently … Continue reading “I am reality”: Oliver Stone’s grit-filled icon, ‘Platoon’ →

Erased from memory: The mainstream-forgotten debut from David Lynch, ‘Eraserhead’

Watching David Lynch’s 1977 feature ‘Eraserhead’, it is easy to understand why it is not often mentioned throughout the casual cinema-goer world; a little artsy, full of macabre imagery and with no discernible soundtrack, it doesn’t stand up as a necessarily entertaining piece of cinema. Instead, it is a film that requires the viewer’s nerve … Continue reading Erased from memory: The mainstream-forgotten debut from David Lynch, ‘Eraserhead’ →