Don’t Look Now (1973)

After Nicolas Roeg’s recent passing, it was time to finally watch Don’t Look Now (1973), of which I knew the references to it in pop culture and even the ending for so long, but had never actually seen it. It’s an eerie, involving piece of work that for most of its running length functions as […]

The Bad Sleep Well (1960)

Unboxing DVDs that I’ve had in storage for several years, I didn’t realise I had this copy of Akira Kurosawa’s The Bad Sleep Well (1960). So I finally watched it and it was excellent. Set in post-war Japan, it unravels the revenge plot set in motion by Nishi (Toshiro Mifune) who is climbing the ranks […]

Spirits Of The Dead (1968)

Following Lewis Rice O’Donnell’s recommendation, I watched Spirits Of The Dead (1968; Italian: Tre passi nel delirio, French: Histoires extraordinaires), a omnibus film of three stories based on the work of Edgar Allan Poe by different directors. The first starring Jane Fonda and directed by her then-husband Roger Vadim is about a debauched countess who becomes obsessed […]

Stroszek (1977)

High on the list of movies I’d always felt guilty about not seeing was Werner Herzog’s Stroszek (1977). I’d heard so much about it, particularly from friends, and even had a DVD copy of it that sat unwatched for years and years. The first thing I was struck by was Bruno S’s performance as the […]

3 Women (1977)

My friend Lauren Cowdrey wrote a recommendation of Robert Altman’s 3 Women (1977) for VHS Tracking Issue 2. I finally watched it recently and thought it was great. Lauren’s review from the zine says it better than I could: “The first time I saw it I was struck by its beauty, like a painting both […]