Woman of the Dunes
‘What a terrible place to live,’ muses amateur entomologist Niki Jumpei as he scours a remote desert region for signs of a blister beetle.
Review by John Berra
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Escape from New York
Cinematic speculation regarding the future state of New York City ranges from the perilously polluted urban environment of Soylent Green to the multi-cultural melting pot of The Fifth Element, but the most memorable vision of the Big Apple of tomorrow is arguably offered by John Carpenter’s enduring cult favourite Escape from New York.
Review by John Berra
The Grifters
Oliver Stapleton’s sun-drenched cinematography, the star casting, and the suggestion that Roy may be redeemable, probably lent this particular Thompson adaptation a degree of mainstream accessibility, but Frears utilises his attractive actors to envision the author’s characters at their most unpleasant and untrustworthy.
Review by John Berra
Film writing competition: Battle Royale
The winner of our April film writing competition, run in connection with the Electric Sheep monthly film club at the Prince Charles Cinema, is Adam Powell.
Life during Wartime
Life during Wartime finds Todd Solondz attempting a similar trick, revisiting the dysfunctional family of his jet-black comedy Happiness (1998) to explore the theme of forgiveness through reference to the seemingly irredeemable acts committed in the earlier film.
Review by John Berra
100 American Independent Films
The second edition of Jason Wood’s 100 American Independent Films arrives at a critical industrial juncture for the American independent sector.
Review by John Berra
BAD BOY BUBBY
Rolf de Heer’s Bad Boy Bubby was a controversial art-house success when released in 1993; audience response to de Heer’s tale of an abused man-child belatedly let loose on society at the age of 35 was polarised, but the film picked up five awards at the Venice Film Festival and became an underground cult item in the United States.
Review by John Berra
BLOODY MAMA
Roger Corman’s Bloody Mama is loosely based on the true story of Kate ‘Ma’ Barker and her criminal offspring, whose exploits in the American Midwest from the early 1920s to the mid-1930s led to avid media coverage.
Review by John Berra
NAKED LENS: BEAT CINEMA
Jack Sargeant’s Naked Lens is a unique exploration of the relationship between the Beat Generation and the medium of cinema, and the early influence of the literary movement on American independent film.
Review by John Berra
JCVD
The distinction between fame and actual success lies at the heart of JCVD, an intermittently inventive cross between Being John Malkovich (1999) and Dog Day Afternoon (1975) in which Van Damme plays himself, a fading celebrity with money problems.
Review by John Berra