Job and the Whale [pullquote cite="" type="left, right"][amazon text=Amazon&template=carousel&chan=that film guy&asin=B00OUVCQBQ][/pullquote] If someone were to tell you a film was a ˜Russian Epic' you might be forgiven for thinking bleak landscapes, social oppression, cold winters and big servings of vodka. In many ways that's exactly what you get in Leviathan, … [Read more...]
Review: The 36th Chamber of Shaolin (1978, Hong Kong)
[pullquote cite="" type="left, right"][amazon text=Amazon&template=carousel&chan=that film guy&asin=B002ZPIBTU][/pullquote] Widely considered one of the best kung fu films ever made, The 36th Chamber of Shaolin arrived right in the middle of the genre's heyday, coming out the same year as Jackie Chan's groundbreaking Drunken Master. Starring Gordon Liu, who would … [Read more...]
Review: La Haine (1995, French)
From Paris with Love [pullquote cite="" type="left, right"][amazon text=Amazon&template=carousel&chan=that film guy&asin=B002BD9DS4][/pullquote] Films that typify the urban realm and do justice to representing particular cities are few are far between. Cities in film are often shiny facades of nothingness, backgrounds on which the story can play out. Notable … [Read more...]
Review: Dragonphoenix Chronicles: Indomitable (2013, Greek)
An crowd-funded independent Greek film, made in the fallout of the country's economic collapse, is an intriguing prospect. When you factor in that it's an epic fantasy made for a budget of €10,000, or "the cost of a day's catering on Game of Thrones", it becomes downright worrying - plenty of fantasy films have failed miserably with million-dollar budgets. Which makes it all … [Read more...]
Review: The Raid 2 (2014, Indonesian)
[pullquote cite="" type="left, right"][amazon text=Amazon&template=carousel&chan=that film guy&asin=B00IG9DESC][/pullquote] When The Raid was released in 2012 it catapulted director Gareth Evans and star Iko Uwais into the public consciousness. Original conceived as a prison drama with undercover elements, it proved to complex to film on a small budget and the film … [Read more...]
Review: [REC] (2007)
![Review: [REC] (2007)](https://www.thatfilmguy.net/wp-content/uploads/2014/04/REC1-1024x576-150x150.jpg)
[pullquote cite="" type="left, right"][amazon text=Amazon&template=carousel&chan=that film guy&asin=B003S4G8RY][/pullquote] A TV film crew, while recording a documentary about firefighters, become trapped in an apartment building during a zombie outbreak. Their attempts to find out what's going on, and hopefully escape, are all shown from the perspective of the … [Read more...]
Review: Blue is the Warmest Colour (2013, French)
Based on Julie Maroh's graphic novel, Abdellatif Kechiche's Blue is the Warmest Colour was this year's winner of the Palm d'Or at Cannes - arguably the film industry's most prestigious award - and became the first film where the prize was awarded to both the director and the lead actresses. It quickly becomes clear why. … [Read more...]
The Grandmaster (2013, Hong Kong) review by That Art House Guy
Wong Kar Wai is a legend of Hong Kong cinema, his reputation established by movies such as In The Mood For Love and Chungking Express. These films are remarkable for their unique visual aesthetic, all neon and rain, and for their atmosphere of melancholy and yearning. But Wong's last couple of films have been misfires “ the uneven sci fi of 2046 and the unsuccessful foray into … [Read more...]
From Up On Poppy Hill (2011, Japan) review by That Art House Guy
From Up On Poppy Hill is the second movie from Goro Miyazaki, son of the legendary Hayao Miyazaki. Like his first film Tales From Earthsea, Miyazaki chose to adapt an existing story, but there the similarities end, as From Up On Poppy Hill is a small scale drama based on comic book series of the same name “ quite a change from the sweeping science fiction fantasy of the … [Read more...]
Love Crime (2010, France) review by That Art House Guy
Love Crime was completed in 2010 but took a year to reach US cinemas and it was over two years before UK audiences had a chance to watch it. It's a little difficult to understand why, as there seems to be no reason why this clever, twisty thriller couldn't gain an audience. Set in the world of corporate high flyers, Love Crime follows the relationship between Christine … [Read more...]