DVD Reviews
Paranoid Park (2007) Movie Review (Tartan Blu-Ray Edition)
Gus Van Sant is one of the few directors who have successfully managed to keep one foot in the mainstream and the other in the art house, balancing the likes of “Good Will Hunting” and his bizarre “Psycho” remake with smaller scale and more personal projects. His last few films, including “Last Days” and his [...]
May 7th, 2008 | James Mudge | 0 comments | Read MoreThe 4th Dimension (2006) Movie/DVD Review
I can’t really decide what I think about The 4th Dimension…maybe I was too tired when I loaded the disc into my DVD player…or perhaps my mind wasn’t in the right place when I watched it…which would be kind of ironic considering the main character of The 4th Dimension may not actually be in his [...]
April 6th, 2008 | Adam Becvar aka Luigi Bastardo | 0 comments | Read MoreBlack Emanuelle’s Box, Vol. 2 (1976-1978) DVD Review
In 1974, the controversial film adaptation of the equally-controversial novel “Emmanuelle: The Joys of a Woman” found its way to the big screen and was garnished with praise and scrutiny alike. Being good businesspeople, the Italians were quick to cash in on the international success the film had and a new exploitation franchise was [...]
March 15th, 2008 | Adam Becvar aka Luigi Bastardo | 0 comments | Read MoreThe Phantom Carriage (Körkarlen 1921) DVD Review
“The Phantom Carriage” from Swedish director Victor Sjostrom was originally released way back in 1920 and has long been revered as a classic example of early supernatural cinema. Said to have been an early inspiration for Ingmar Bergman, the film is a haunting tale based around a legend that the last person to die on [...]
December 22nd, 2007 | James Mudge | 0 comments | Read MoreThe Seventh Seal (1957) Blu-Ray DVD Review
Tartan’s 50th digitally re-mastered Anniversary release of Ingmar Bergman’s immortal classic “The Seventh Seal” on Blu-ray format is an interesting proposition, offering a chance to see how an older black and white film holds up on high definition. As well as presenting the film in potentially the best quality it has ever enjoyed, this release [...]
November 23rd, 2007 | James Mudge | 0 comments | Read MoreBride of Re-Animator (1990) DVD Review
Although the much touted Quentin Tarantino and Robert Rodriguez double bill “Grindhouse” unfortunately turned out to be a bit of a box office dud, it did have the knock-on effect of inspiring a flood of re-releases of good old fashioned exploitation fare. One company making the most of the renewed public interest in trash cinema [...]
November 15th, 2007 | James Mudge | 0 comments | Read MoreBright Future (2003) DVD Review
“Bright Future” is a recent effort from acclaimed Japanese director Kiyoshi Kurosawa, finally released on region 2 DVD via Tartan. Although Kurosawa is best known for horror films such as “Kairo”, “Séance” and “Cure”, his works have always had an appeal beyond the genre, mainly due to his measured, philosophical approach, and the way in [...]
November 10th, 2007 | James Mudge | 0 comments | Read MoreInvisible Waves (2006) DVD Review
“Invisible Waves” is a recent offering from acclaimed Thai director Pen-ek Ratanaruang, who scored a cult hit in 2003 with the excellent “Last Life in the Universe”. The two films actually have a lot in common, both being surreal mood pieces, beautifully lensed by master cinematographer Christopher Doyle, and featuring pan-Asian casts headed by Japanese [...]
November 10th, 2007 | James Mudge | 0 comments | Read MoreOldboy (2003) Blu-Ray DVD Review
For their second Blu-ray release Tartan have chosen Korean director Park Chan-wook’s worldwide cult hit and award winner “Oldboy”. Whilst on one hand selecting such a popular title for a flagship release on the new format certainly makes sense, on the other since most of the intended audience will likely have already seen or indeed [...]
October 27th, 2007 | James Mudge | 1 comment | Read MoreBreaking News (2004) DVD Review
With “Exiled” and the “Election” films winning Johnnie To a level of international popularity and respect rarely enjoyed by Hong Kong directors, it’s good to see another of his recent efforts finally being released on region 2 DVD through Tartan, namely the critically acclaimed “Breaking News”. To an extent the film, which originally came out [...]
October 6th, 2007 | James Mudge | 0 comments | Read MoreOne Last Dance (2005) DVD Review
For the benefit of those likely to stop reading at the news that what we have here is yet another tale of that most beloved and enduring of cinematic stereotypes, namely the eccentric / melancholy / honourable / love-struck / well-dressed hitman (is there any other kind?), the bottom line is that “One Last Dance” [...]
September 29th, 2007 | James Mudge | 0 comments | Read MoreThe Duel Project: Aragami and 2LDK (2003, 2005) DVD Review
“The Duel Project” is kind of like a less pretentious Japanese version of Danish directors Lars von Trier and Thomas Vinterberg’s ‘Dogme 95′ so-called vow of chastity in that it enforces a number of rules in an attempt to strip down the film making process to its essentials. Of course here, rather than trying to [...]
September 22nd, 2007 | James Mudge | 0 comments | Read MoreHaxan: Witchcraft Through the Ages (1922) DVD Review
How many films remain famous or indeed infamous nearly ninety years after their original release? Perhaps even more importantly it might be asked how many such films remain accessible or of interest to the average viewer than existing merely as curio pieces for cineastes and academics? The answer to the first question is ‘few’, and [...]
September 22nd, 2007 | James Mudge | 0 comments | Read MoreThe Jodorowsky Collection DVD Review
Tartan have given cult film fans a reason to celebrate with the long awaited, long sought after release of the Alejandro Jodorowsky box set, a mighty six disc collection containing three of the acclaimed underground director’s works along with a whole host of extras. Crucially, this includes his masterworks “El Topo” and “The Holy Mountain”, [...]
September 16th, 2007 | James Mudge | 0 comments | Read MoreBlack Book (2006) Blu-Ray DVD Review
With the new high definition DVD war in full swing, a number of companies are choosing to take sides. Currently Blu-ray appears to have the edge in terms of industry support, and Tartan have decided to throw their weight behind the format by exclusively releasing several of their most popular titles, the first of which [...]
September 8th, 2007 | James Mudge | 0 comments | Read MoreThe Bow (2005) DVD Review
With “The Bow”, now released on UK DVD by Tartan, acclaimed South Korean director Kim Ki-duk continues to explore human nature and transcendence, moving further away from the bitterness and sadism which characterised his earlier work. Although at first the film appears to have much in common with “The Isle”, sharing the same, overtly symbolic [...]
August 5th, 2007 | James Mudge | 0 comments | Read MorePerth (2004) Movie/DVD Review
“Perth”, the latest release from Tartan’s Asia Extreme label (Region 2), comes from a rather unlikely place, namely Singapore, a country not exactly known for violent or controversial cinema. The film was written and directed in 2004 by the oddly named Djinn, who had previously been responsible for the awful horror outing “Return to Pontianak”, [...]
May 31st, 2007 | James Mudge | 0 comments | Read More
please make this movie todd 
As a life-long Buddhist, the element of “ego” and the self-talk that goes along with it was very clear to ...
Just watched this film due to Jason Statham's involvement (he's on my new bride's list of guys she can sleep ...