What begins as an overworked relationship drama reveals itself to have more in common thematically with the likes of Z for Zachariah (1984; dir. Anthony Garner) or the work of Alan Garner, particularly The Owl Service (1969-68) or his novel Red Shift (London: Collins, 1973), … Read More →
Tag Archives: united kingdom
The local UFO show that could change the way you look at regional cinema and television production
The opportunities for independent film and television production in this country, let alone in the North East region, are disappointingly few. Post-graduate media practitioners are taught to go where the money takes them, rather than build their own sustainable creative bases closer to home, and the … Read More →
The UK Film Council is dead – long live the British film industry!
The current UK government’s decision to axe the UK Film Council, along with numerous other arts funding bodies, has come as a shock to many media practitioners and commentators, especially those who were either supported by this outdated and pedantic unit – including cinematic bores … Read More →
New YouTube series offers alternatives to standard online exposure
YouTube features its own promoted videos on its homepage, and, whilst it may be churlish to suggest the platform has ulterior motives for elevating certain uploads, they are by nature bland, unimaginative and safe. The discerning browser therefore needs alternative avenues to find content that … Read More →
Captain Wardrobe Must Die (2008; dir. Roger Armstrong)
“I hate that shitty office job in IT,” says this film’s main character, modestly played by helmer Armstrong, “I’d rather work in the media.” This blank-faced confession, wrought by the fictionalised Armstrong during the filming of this semi-fictionalised documentary, reveals the heart of Captain Wardrobe … Read More →
TV for Idiots?
Writer and broadcaster Stephen Fry’s recent suggestion that the BBC’s output is infantile and idiotic may ring true when the corporation’s current trends and attitudes are taken into account, but his argument fails to suggest a solution to the problem, and certainly doesn’t go far … Read More →
It’s Nick’s Birthday (2009; dir. Graeme Cole)
This superlative Super 8mm musical proves there are still opportunities for (and reasons to get excited about) the crippled British film industry, and that filmmakers in this country can only succeed when they forgo the artistically redundant processes of Hollywood and its imitators in favour … Read More →
Taxi (2008; dir. Paul Olding)
This is a series of vignettes, each taking place in and around a Hackney cab, which hinge on false expectations and occasionally jokey denouements. Helmer Olding and his creative team seem to be aiming for a slick, commercial feel to the proceedings, which, despite the … Read More →
The Last Night (1983; dir. Michael J. Murphy)
Low-budget auteur Murphy here lends his out-of-focus, hand-held camera-work to the ludicrous story of an amateur dramatics murder mystery hijacked by two escaped criminals. The claustrophobic, backstage locations add an air of menace to the tongue-in-cheek scenario, and Murphy and his cast have some fun … Read More →
Dream Demon (1988; dir. Harvey Cokeliss)
A stupid, boring film that suffers from the same problem as Flick (2008; dir. David Howard) – reviewed here – in that it employs familiar faces from British cinema and television, purely because they are unwelcome household names, and the producers obviously thought this would … Read More →
Profondo rosso (1975; dir. Dario Argento)
Italian filmmaker Dario Argento here cements his reputation as the “Italian Hitchcock” with this variation on the Psycho (1960; dir. Alfred Hitchcock) scenario. Showily lensed and featuring sequences of technical bravura that bely its simplistic aspirations, Profondo rosso is a film that mocks those who … Read More →
Rewriting the future: Space: 2099 brings personal revisionism to the mainstream
Telefantasy has inspired a large percentage of viewers to pen unproduced screenplays, unpublished novels or self-distributed fanzines based on their obsessions, occasionally foraying into the realm of no-budget fan film production, but the golden fleece for all fanboys is inclusion in the official canon of … Read More →