Outland (1981)

Peter Hyams wanted to make a western and so he set it in space with Outland (1981). From the title credits to the interiors, the aesthetic is clearly following the path of Ridley Scott’s Alien to the point where it feels like it takes place in the same galaxy and settles into a grimy, lived-in […]

Strange Days (1995)

Prowling through the dangerous streets of Los Angeles in the dead of night, sidewalks vibrating with people, partying, violence, confetti and smoke, Lenny Nero (Ralph Fiennes) changes the radio station of his BMW, bouncing across music styles and radio chatter – everything is played out and already been done. An ex-cop turned drug dealer, Nero’s […]

Hackers (1995)

I never saw Hackers (1995) when it came out in cinemas. The first time I properly watched it was with friends to make fun of it, a studio picture that tried to market one sub culture (internet hackers) to another (teens). To represent hacking as cool and punk seemed naff and silly, particularly with attractive […]

First Love (2019)

First Love (2019; Hatsukoi) combines a couple of my favourite sub-genres: One Wild Night and Multiple Parties Want One Thing. Directed by the prolific Japanese filmmaker Takashi Miike (13 Assassins, Blade Of The Immortal), we follow a young boxer Leo (Masataka Kubota) who goes from shiftless to despondent when he receives some bad news after […]

A Scanner Darkly (2006)

Sad Keanu before the meme. Robert Downey Jnr in prime bursque rant mode pre-MCU. Woody Harrelson as hippy-dippy paranoid (naturally). Winona Ryder as subtle and caring from afar. Rory Cochrane taking his Slater character from Dazed And Confused to another deeper, darker, depressing level of Too Far Gone. A Scanner Darkly (2006), an adaptation of […]