by Aly Lalji 


The so called ‘Video Nasties’ was certainly a time of history, controversy and hype. Video stores were hungry for any video they could get their hands on, even if it meant not knowing anything about the film. Censorship was weak and once in order, over two hundred horror films were taken off the shelves through police raids and all these videos became incinerated, increasing curiosity for the public to see what the fuss was about. Popular films like Last House on the Left, I Spit on Your Grave and Cannibal Ferox are to name but a few. They all received modern remakes as there is some merit in these films. However, Island of Death, does not carry the strong reputation like its predecessors. Although it’s intriguing to watch one of the most underrated video nasties and still carries a strong cult status.

by Cookie N Screen

Dear Directors of Artistic films.

Your extremely slow films are wonderful, truly. For any movie snob, we’d gladly take unnerving and picturesque over something mindless and entertaining. In fact, we’d rather sit through the twenty hour shot of someone’s face over an explosive sequence with a quip any day. No, seriously. A bag caught in the wind is more spectacular to watch than a musical number. We certainly enjoy it, we’d gladly sit through it and throw our hard earned cash at it.

Said No One Ever.

Ok, ok. So I very much like a great balance in my cinematic diet. I munch down indie and foreign films as happily as I do mindless entertainment (in fact, more so). Paced artistic films with a fantastic story in the middle and evocative performances are great when the narrative and editing calls for lingering imagery that push the story forward.

The problem is when the drawling shots overshadow and bore, the attention is taken away from quite an important story. Stray Dogs suffers majorly from this lack of flow.

by Cookie N Screen 

This past Academy Award ceremony, for those a fan of animation, it seemed a bit superfluous that Disney would grab both the Feature and Short awards for the medium. It’s not that the artists and filmmakers haven’t done good jobs in Feast and the feature that followed Big Hero 6. But there weren’t excellent films. Nor were they the best. Comparatively to Song of the Sea, How to Train Your Dragon 2 and The Tale of Princess Kaguya, Disney hadn’t produced their best work and the strangled grip of the company who have enchanted many rung out in the community. Did they deserve to win this time? No. 

But Big Hero 6, despite its faults, is still an enjoyable thrill ride.

by Cookie N Screen

That intrepid road from the stage to the screen is as winding as the paths taken by our character in this wildly enjoyable adaptation Into the Woods. It is a give and take relationship between the theatre and the movies, (a relationship, by the way, gloriously explored in the recent Birdman.) There are movies such as Heathers, Hairspray and Mean Girls that leap into the stage for phenomenal musical versions whilst film often, ha ha, stage their own adaptation of works previously kept to theatres. Each opens pathways for people to explore the mediums and the same can be said about today’s DVD release - Into The Woods which may have polarised theatre and cinema fans alike but still opened the up the road to the production that wasn’t necessarily the most famed.

by Cookie N Screen

Scooping up the award and clutching it like a lanky British elf, Eddie Redmayne looked entirely overwhelmed by this revelation in his career. Winning an Oscar, after all, is considered the pinnacle of the film industry and heck, even a nomination would have you burning with glee. When you look at the other contenders, it was definitely one of the more eclectic yet stellar bunch of thespians all with possible Academy Award glory in their eyes. Alongside Redmayne, there was Michael Keaton's stellar turn in Best Picture Winner Birdman, Benedict Cumberbatch's enigmatic role in The Imitation Game, Steve Carrell's fantastic transformation in Foxcatcher and Bradley Cooper in American Sniper. Out of that bunch, it was a young Eddie Redmayne who scooped up the win and charmed us all over again. 

So for the DVD release of The Theory of Everything today, let's look at the reasons why he won! 

by Jennifer Drewett 

The face of Hollywood is a seemingly ever changing thing and yet some of the facets have remained the same: celebrity and scandal can vastly overshadow the talent and achievements of a person in the spotlight, certain figures receive almost worship-style attention and it is such a different world it seems almost unreal. One of the most iconic Hollywood films of all times shows this off in a rather incredible way that had never been seen before and may never be truly matched. That film is Citizen Kane.

by Cookie N Screen 

If you sat people down and really spoke to them, you’d find a story worth documenting. Sure, not all tales would suit big screen outings. But whether it’s short form or not, there is no denying that people are interesting creatures who recant hilarious, terrifying or adventurous tales over a beer or two. When you speak to the older generation, you’ll find that they have truly lived. The older you are, the more you have lived - literally. And in this day and age, it is good to sit down, and look back over all the spectacular years that people have lived - enriching the world now with their bewildering lives. Turned Towards the Sun focuses on the magnificent life of Michael Burns.