When it comes to film studios, few were as distinctive in their ability to make a very particular kind of film as Ealing Studios, the esteemed British production company behind some of the greatest comedies of all time, whose prolific output was rapid but rarely anything less than impeccable. Of all their films, the one…

While he did work across a range of genres, John Ford was mostly known for directing either action-packed, highly influential westerns, or searing historical dramas, either focused on particular individuals from the past, or an entire group at a specific time in America’s history. However, he did make a few forays into comedy, mostly in…

Moral ambiguity has always been the most notable quality when it comes to looking at how Todd Solondz makes his films, with the director himself even remarking on his tendency to go for more perverse stories, especially those that touch on issues much deeper than simply dark comedy. This has always been the case, as…

The theme that dominates throughout Bad Luck Banging or Loony Porn (Romanian: Babardeală cu bucluc sau porno balamuc) is that of unequivocal chaos, and Radu Jude is clearly relishing in this fact. The director, who has previously made some equally fascinating films, has crafted a film that is best described as pure cinematic anarchy. Composed…

For the uninitiated or those that don’t quite know what to expect from it, Patrick (Flemish: De Patrick) could easily be mistaken for a sobering drama about very serious issues, which could not be further from what Tim Mielants’ gorgeously striking dark comedy actually is. A film that is profoundly European in its sensibilities, whether…

No one captured Rome quite like Vittorio De Sica, whose prolific career is filled to the brim with the most gorgeous and striking depictions of the Italian capital. Perhaps a controversial opinion, especially considering some of his contemporaries, such as Federico Fellini and Roberto Rossellini, are considered formidable challengers for the title, many of their…

It is often said that in order to create good art centred around the concept of death, one has to be either fond enough of living to be entirely objective to the realities of this great inevitability, or so far gone into a space of almost nihilistic despair that this serves as a way for…

The first time I encountered So I Married an Axe Murderer was in my pre-teen years, when I stumbled upon it one late night on television. For someone who usually took films at face value, something to carry such a direct and evocative title was immediately going to be of interest, even if I had…

It may be a bold statement, but The Man with Two Brains could legitimately be the funniest film ever made. Rarely has there been a comedy that contains so much original humour that is presented at such a rapid pace, it almost becomes impossible to capture it all in a single viewing. Yet, Carl Reiner…

Horror is a genre in which some excellent work has been done to establish certain conventions over the years, as a result of the continuous popularity these films have enjoyed since the inception of cinema – even within the genre, we see many smaller subsets forming at an almost alarming rate, since every few years,…