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Author Archives: Ross Birks
The Navigator: A Medieval Odyssey (1988)
Anyone unfamiliar with Vincent Ward – perhaps best known as the initial director for Alien 3 – do yourself a favour and check out his first film Vigil; one of the muddiest, psychotronic art-dirges I’ve seen. The Navigator is his follow-up, which is equally tactile … Continue reading
Posted in Arrow Films, Reviews
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Body Double (1984)
With every rewatch (and there have been many) Body Double inches closer and closer to being my favourite De Palma movie. Maybe it’s because this is very much a Greatest Hits collection, combining and elaborating on all of De Palma’s obsessions, desires, … Continue reading
Posted in Reviews, Rewatch
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Top of the Lake: China Girl (2017)
Messier, darker, stranger than season one. Less concise and coherent but full of unforgettable images, askew characterisation and observations. Campion really leans into her instincts as sardonic dreamweaver this time around. There are a bunch of grotesque leaps in narrative … Continue reading
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Punishment Park (1971)
A feral display of documentary techniques in service of a truly nightmarish dystopian vision. This feels white knuckle-terrifying at every turn. Bulging eyes, sweat everywhere, the landscape and film grain rough like sandpaper, the whole film resembles a cigarette burn. … Continue reading
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Man of Violence (1970)
Man of Violence aka Moon is a scrappy little 60s brit exploitation movie by famed scuzz-master Andy Milligan made just before he concentrated all his skills on horror pictures. While yes this was released in 1971, it is nevertheless animated through and through … Continue reading
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Privilege (1967)
What a striking blast of inventive technique this is. Nobody could wield a documentary approach for fictional purposes like Peter Watkins. This story of the creation of a pop messiah for the purposes of political totalitarianism is wildly ahead of … Continue reading
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Jubilee (1978)
“As long as the music’s loud enough, we won’t hear the world falling apart” Like the concrete and graffiti that fills its frames, Jubilee combines grit with a scrappy graphic artistry to render the burgeoning UK punk scene on celluloid. It’s successful … Continue reading
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In the Cut (2003)
Criminally misunderstood and rejected upon release, this is a groundbreaking dissection of feminine sexuality personified by Meg Ryan, at 42, owning every inch of her age and maturity to heighten an already-incredible performance. Grisly, lurid and soaked in fluids, part-urban … Continue reading
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Opera (1987)
One of Argento’s best and a personal favourite. Opera benefits greatly from being so straight-forward and direct with its themes and visual concepts but naturally, this being 80s Argento after all, he can’t help but get in his own dumbass way with … Continue reading
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Us (2019)
It’s so thrilling to see Peele settle into being a genre filmmaker who is determined to bring new ideas, scenarios and images to the table, as well as a new perspective, instead of being shackled or beholden to what came … Continue reading
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"This Film Should Be Played Loud" 