Throw Down (2004)

Director Johnnie To said in an interview that he “didn’t want any antagonists” in the Hong Kong film, Throw Down (2004). This is intriguing to hear – no antagonists in a neo-noir martial arts movie set in the backstreets, gambling dens and smoky bars of Hong Kong? And that is specifically about the fighting form […]

Night Of The Demons (1988)

I found Night Of The Demons (1988) a lot of fun even before the demons show up. With a classic horror movie set-up – a bunch of teens decide to party on Halloween night at an abandoned crematorium called Hull House – the characters are all teen cliches archetypes dialled up to cartoonish levels. There’s […]

Friday The 13th Part 6: Jason Lives (1986)

If only those counsellors unloading supplies at Camp Crystal Lake had been listening to the Alice Cooper song playing on the radio, warning them about Jason: “He’s back / the man behind the mask / and he’s crawled out of his hole…” They gave you all the clues! That Alice Cooper song – He’s Back […]

Another Year (2010)

Revisiting Mike Leigh’s film, Another Year (2010), there are images of the middle-aged couple Tom (Jim Broadbent), a geologist, and Gerri (Ruth Sheen), a counsellor, that are so appealing and heart-warming to me. Gerri cuddling Tom while he prepares dinner or both of them sitting underneath a tarp with a cup of tea while it […]

Love Streams (1984)

I really love revisiting John Cassavetes’ films – often, it feels like you have to acclimatise to the tones. The characters aren’t asking you to love them: they are tough to take. Love Streams (1984) I only saw for the first time a couple of years back and was always keen to revisit. While it’s […]