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 […]

The Childhood Of A Leader (2015)

I’d never heard of The Childhood Of A Leader (2015) until one year when I asked people what their favourite scores/songs of the year were and someone recommended Scott Walker’s score from it. The thundering overture sets the strident tone for this drama which, per the title, looks at Prescott (Tom Sweet), a young boy […]

Jackie (2016)

I completely missed Jackie (2016) when it was out during the busy summer movie/award movie period but finally caught up with it and yeah, it was excellent. Natalie Portman’s performance, Stephane Fontaine’s cinematography, Mica Levi’s score, Pablo Larrain’s direction, just everything working at a quality level to present a layered, immersive portrait. Can’t believe it […]

The Firemen’s Ball (1967)

I picked up a copy of The Firemen’s Ball (1967) last year on a whim, which is a recently restored print, purchased maybe after the passing of director Milos Forman and realising I’d not seen any of his pre-America films made in his home country of Czechoslovakia. This 71-minute film about a chaotic ball organised […]

Love And Anarchy (1973)

I’d not heard of Love And Anarchy (1973; Film d’amore e d’anarchia, ovvero: stamattina alle 10, in via dei Fiori, nella nota casa di tolleranza..) until Lewis Rice O’Donnell talked about it. Directed by Lina Wertmüller and set during the 1930s, it’s about a fuzz-faced yokel named Tunin (Giancarlo Giannini) who travels to the city in […]