Screen Adventure - by ShaunK

So much fun it should be outlawed. The Streetfighter was the first film to earn an X-rating for violence and stands the test of time in a sea of other forgettable KarateKung-Fu films. Sonny Chiba (born Shinichi Chiba) plays Terry Tsurugi, the ultimate anti-hero, who shows no mercy, no compass...

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THE BIRTH OF COOL Jean-Pierre Melvilles 1967 classic film Le Samourai stars Alain Delon (The Leopard, L'eclisse, Purple Noon) as Jef Costello, the most inscrutable of all hitmen. How do you begin to discuss a film so revered, so often analysed, so often copied. Countless films that have taken ...

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The Killer Inside Me is the provocative new film by British director Michael Winterbottom (24 Hour Party People), starring Casey Affleck (Gone Baby Gone), Jessica Alba (Sin City), Kate Hudson (Almost Famous), Ned Beatty (Mikey amp Nicky) and Simon Baker (The Guardian). Based on Jim Thompson...

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A White-Hot Juggernaut At 200 Miles Per Hour! Deathproof is a film that belongs in the relics of demolished drive ins and treasured video cassettes, far away from the multiplexes. Quentin Tarantinos box office kiss of death finds the director right in his element, honouring the trashy, lo...

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This island isn't in the human world demons and whores are the only ones living here MASTERS OF HORROR presents IMPRINT Prepare to be thoroughly disturbed. For those of you who like their horror films full on, this might just be for you. For everyone else beware. Nineteenth Century...

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There is a shot in Thief, where we see over the front of a shiny Cadillac, as it moves through the streets at night time. The lights from glitzy hotels, casinos and night clubs sparkle against the reflection of the vehicle as it moves with a sense of importance. The world we see on screen is an ...

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The trailer for the new film by writerdirector Darren Aronofsky (The Wrestler, Requeim For A Dream) is now online. It's a most intriguing looking ballet film called Black Swan, set to be released 1st December. Fox Searchlight describes Black Swan as "A psychological thriller set in the world o...

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Scott Pilgrim Vs. The World where do I start I had just had a huge lunch, overfed and sluggish would be the two words to describe me. I walked into the theatre, collapsing in my seat, unaware of what was to come - AND THEN - to my unexpected shock, I was mugged by a slice of sensory over-kill...

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In 1979, three years after Paul Schrader was credited as writer in the highly praised Taxi Driver, he wrote and directed Hardcore, a film that plays as a fine companion piece to Taxi Driver. Returning to the milieu of pornography, prostitution and a man over whelmed by everything around him. B...

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I know what you're thinking. You're thinking, ''did he fire six shots or only five'' Now to tell you the truth, I forgot myself in all this excitement. But being this is a .44 Magnum, the most powerful handgun in the world and will blow you head clean off, you've gotta ask yourself one question ...

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THE FINAL CROWNING WORK In 1984, John Cassavetes would make his final film, Love Streams (not counting the aptly titled Big Trouble which he took over half way through). By the time he began shooting, he was sick, he had cirrhosis of the liver and was dying. After so long, Gena Rowlands, hi...

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John Cassavetes described Gloria as ''a thoughtless, fast moving piece about gangsters''. Made in 1980, Gloria is his most unaccomplished work since Too Late Blues. He admitted to have made the film, which he wrote as well, as a gig specifically to make money (you gotta pay the bills right). Th...

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Opening Night is the other side of A Woman Under the Influence, about a woman on her own, with no responsibility to anyone but herself, with a need to come together with other women. Myrtle is alone and in desperate fear of losing the vulnerability she feels she needs as an actress. She is a wom...

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THE KILLING OF A CHINESE BOOKIE I won't call my work entertainment. It's exploring. It's asking questions of people, constantly How much do you feel How much do you know Are you aware of this Can you cope with this A good movie will ask you questions you haven't been asked before, ones ...

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"John Cassavetes film's were like epics of the human soul" - Martin Scorsese I'm very concerned about the depiction of women on the screen. It's related to their being either high- or low-class concubines, and the only question is when or where they will go to bed, and with whom or how many. Ther...

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Screwball comedy at it's most eccentric One thing so unique about John Cassavetes films, was that most of them, created new sub-genres. Cassavetes was an inventor of new forms, but Minnie amp Moskowitz is his direct take on the screwball comedy. One of the staples of Hollywood films, th...

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A GANGSTER FILM LIKE NO OTHER John Cassavetes never considered himself a director or writer, just an actor - and it was his artistic interpretations as an actor that would ultimately forge his vision of the world in his own films as a director. Now we get to one of the most truly interesting ...

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I can understand that certain people would like a more conventional form, so that they can borrow it, much like the gangster picture. You can "read" it, because it's something you know already. But if you deal with a scene , it's very hard for people to get with the film because of their expectation...

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A MASTER FILM MAKER EMERGES TO CREATE A MASTERPIECE While Shadows was a brilliant first film, by the time John Cassavetes returned to truly independent film making he was a very different person and his 1968 film Faces is the first film where the explosiveness of spontaneity, embarrassment, u...

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"Most people don't know what they want or feel. And for everyone, myself included, Its very difficult to say what you mean when what you mean is painful. The most difficult thing in the world is to reveal yourself, to express what you have to... As an artist, I feel that we must try many things - bu...

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