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LATEST REVIEWS
Hands On A Hardbody (1997)
In this day and age, we have become used to a certain standard when it comes to the documentary. You can expect drone shots of stunning vistas, beautifully shot interviews, a score to accompany the drama - the format has gone high-end. However, there was a time when the documentary film was less about creating a cinematic experience and more about simply capturing real life as it unfolds before our eyes. The pioneering classic 'Hoop Dreams' (1994) being the first real breakou
Enter The Dragon (1973)
"A good martial artist does not become tense, but ready. Not thinking, yet not dreaming. Ready for whatever may come... And when there is an opportunity, I do not hit. It hits all by itself."
When you think of the words "Kung" and "Fu" and "Hollywood" you will almost certainly think of Mr. Bruce Lee - prowling around, screaming like a mating monkey and kicking many villains in the face. He is, and still remains, the greatest of all time when it comes to the martial arts su
Cash (1997) - Johnny Cash
Be honest, we've all done it. You've had a bad day, the kids are doing your head in, there's tension with the wife, work is tough, you've had a couple of drinks, you pick up the guitar, drop your voice about 19 octaves, stare out the window and mournfully croon "I hear the train a-coming, it's rollin' round the bend, and I ain't see the sunshine, since I don't know when". Or that might just be me. Whose to say. Either way, there is no denying the magnetism woven into the musi
5-STAR REVIEWS
Brave New World (1932) - Aldous Huxley
“I don't want comfort. I want God, I want poetry, I want real danger, I want freedom, I want goodness. I want sin."
In the course of a person's life, there usually comes a time where you encounter things that move you. They may touch your soul in an emotive way - maybe you're reminded of a gentle summer's day frolicking in a hazy strawberry field as a wee bairn, maybe you're reminded of what it means to be human and all that comes with it. Who knows? However, sometimes you
A Crow Looked At Me (2017) - Mount Eerie
Imagine, if you will, that you have a soul. A tangible soul that you can actually touch, full of tenderness and joy and sweet delicious sorrow...all of 'the feels' as the kids today say. Now imagine having that soul pulled out of your body and inviting a gang of football hooligans to stamp on it for 41 minutes and 34 seconds. That is the experience of listening to Mount Eerie's 'A Crow Looked At Me'.
There have been several albums made about death, particularly around the m
Get To Heaven (2015) - Everything Everything
Prior to the release of this album, art-rock whizz kids Everything Everything had certainly shown some promise on the indie scene but threatened to fall into the mire of decent-but-never-great bands that were, for a while, the order of the day.
Their first effort 'Man Alive' was a band finding it's feet. Their next release, 'Arc' showed a giant step forward in terms of songwriting ability and spawned classic weirdo anthems like 'Kemosabe' and 'Cough Cough'. Then came the mo
CULT CLASSICS
Bad Lieutenant (1992)
Humanity's journey into darkness has been an oft-visited creative well over the years. Be it 'Apocalypse Now', 'Breaking Bad' or 'Dante's Inferno', it is a subject that has compelled us for centuries. Is there some element of all of us, on some primal level, that wants to give in to that voice on the shoulder that just wants to throw it all on the bonfire and see what happens? Maybe. Regardless, these stories will likely never cease as long as we have a conscience. They are n
Midnight Run (1988)
It seems hard to recall here in 2026, but there once was a time when Robert DeNiro was the man in the business of show. With a career forged in towering, serious, dramatic performances of range and seemingly unlimited skill - he was, at a certain time, the absolute best actor in the business and every new DeNiro film released was an event in and of itself.
However by 1988 he wanted a change of pace. Coming off the back of a memorable turn as Al Capone in Brian DePalma's 'Th
The Last Detail (1973)
When thinking of great films starring the legend that is Jack Nicholson, few would immediately name this 1973 cult classic. However, Jack himself considers this his finest moment on screen, famously stating "I did it in that movie. That was my best role". When you watch this largely unheralded gem again now, it's not hard to see why.
At the dawn of 'New Hollywood', Hal Ashby became quite an important figure. However, by 1973 he was coming off the back of the abject failur
GREAT READS
American Prometheus (2005) - Kai Bird & Martin J. Sherwin
“There are no secrets about the world of nature. There are secrets about the thoughts and intentions of men.”
Most people in this day and age, myself included, didn't necessarily know the name of J. Robert Oppenheimer until Christopher Nolan's brilliant film came out and swept the 2024 Oscars. However, back in the early 1950s he was probably the most famous person on planet earth. Described as the father of the nuclear bomb, his face was plastered the covers on publications
A Confederacy of Dunces (1980) - John Kennedy Toole
"Optimism nauseates me. It is perverse. Since man's fall, his proper position in the universe has been one of misery.” - Ignatius J. Reilly
The title of this book comes from a quote by Jonathan Swift - 'When a true genius appears in the world, you may know him by this sign, that the dunces are all in confederacy against him' - and its publication is one that you cannot help but have mixed feelings about. After all it is considered one of the greatest works of comedy ever c
Blood Meridian (1985) - Cormac McCarthy
“Whatever in creation exists without my knowledge exists without my consent.” - Judge Holden
First published in 1985, Blood Meridian is often considered the magnum opus of one of the greatest, if not the greatest, American writers in history. Criticisms of Cormac McCarthy’s books are often that they are almost inaccessible due to the tone and utter refusal to adhere to any of the traditional formatting we generally need to understand the written word. All of those traits ar
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