by Ard Vijn

Rotterdam 2019: What The Audiences Liked Best

Two weeks ago, the 2019 International Film Festival in Rotterdam came to an end. Probably the largest cultural event in the Netherlands, with over 300,000 tickets sold each year, for me it's hard to believe it's already gone again. Time...
by Ard Vijn

Rotterdam 2019 Review: MONUMENT Builds Up To Something Memorable

During her intro at the International Film Festival Rotterdam, Polish director Jagoda Szelc stated that in her new feature film Monument, she doesn't try to tell a story. She asked the audience to watch the film with the idea that...
by Ard Vijn

Review: BIRDS OF PASSAGE, How the Drug Trade Changes People

Cristina Gallego and Ciro Guerra have made a beautiful film about Wayuu culture and the drug trade.
by Ard Vijn

Watch All Hell Break Loose In HIGGS, A Magnificent Proof of Concept Video

(Ouch... that looks like it hurts...) It's already more than a decade ago that we were rocked by two excellent proof-of-concept videos for a Nazi zombie cyborg project called Worst Case Scenario. And while that film unfortunately got itself stuck...
by Ard Vijn

Rotterdam 2019 Review: CAPERNAUM Delivers A Magnificent Punch

Last Friday, at the 2019 edition of the International Film Festival Rotterdam, the audience award went to a film which managed to score an average of 4.8 out of 5. That film was writer-director Nadine Labaki's Capernaum, and while it...
by Ard Vijn

Pretty Packaging: Arrow's CRIMSON PEAK Oozes Gothic Colorfulness

It's been a while since I put an Arrow release up for a Pretty Packaging article, but their recent Special Edition of Guillermo Del Toro's Crimson Peak sure convinced me to write one up. Their release comes with plenty of...
by Ard Vijn

Rotterdam 2019 Review: In SHADOW, Zhang Yimou Paints With Black, White And Red

Being a trained cinematographer, Chinese director Zhang Yimou cannot be accused of making ugly films. Be it a small drama or an epic fantasy flick, the man knows how to shoot pretty pictures, so it will be no surprise that...
by Ard Vijn

Rotterdam 2019 Review: HARPOON Shoots Holes In The Concept Of Friendship

(Because it's a speargun, not a harpoon...) Richard, Sasha and Jonah are friends. Richard and Sasha have been together for a while, but Richard suspects Sasha to be cheating on him with Jonah. And, as shown early on, Richard is...
by Ard Vijn

Rotterdam 2019: Heads-Ups And Recommendations

The International Film Festival Rotterdam opens its 2019 edition today, meaning that for a week-and-a-half, my home town will be mostly dedicated to films. The yearly fest is the largest cultural event in the Netherland in ticket sales, and...
by Ard Vijn

Pretty Packaging: COWBOY BEBOP Gets An Ultimate Edition

Glasgow-based distributor Anime Limited has built a reputation for daring Blu-ray releases, be it films and series which aren't that well-known, or outrageous editions for fan-favorites. As a collector, the company is definitely worth keeping an eye on, especially whenever...
by Ard Vijn

Ard's Dozen Of Musings About 2018

In 2018 I saw 156 films, or 155 if you count two of the three Deadpool 2s as one. While that may seem like a lot to some people, what this number tells ME is that I've spent less time...
by Ard Vijn

Pretty Packaging: Criterion's INGMAR BERGMAN'S CINEMA Astonishes

(Holy cow, when Criterion cracks its knuckles in earnest, you get magic...) I don't know whether to feel merry or sorry for those collectors who have a taste for Ingmar Bergman. Imagine picking up all of Criterion's Blu-ray releases of...
by Ard Vijn

Book Review: SCALA CINEMA 1978-1993 Provides A Grand Trip Down Memory Lane

In the late seventies, the eighties and the early nineties, the Scala cinema in London was a bit of a 'specialty' venue. Instead of being just a bunch of screens to show the latest blockbusters on, the Scala had a...
by Peter Martin

Screen Anarchy's Favorite Films of 2018

Here's our favorite films of 2018, as voted on by more than 20 of our contributing writers, who collectively picked 114 films as their favorites. 1. Roma 2. The Favourite 3 (tie). BlacKkKlansman / You Were Never Really Here 5....
by Ard Vijn

Shivers 2018 Review: Polish Comedy MUG Carries A Mighty Sting

Humor is a divider of tastes; what strikes one person as funny may be incredibly offensive to someone else. And, as humor carries its own special brand of magic, it can sometimes be both. Malgorzata Szumowska's new film Mug is...
by Ard Vijn

Shivers 2018 Review: BIRDS OF PASSAGE

An odd piece of news last week was that Colombia is now one of the fastest-growing countries, popularity-wise, for Europeans to take a holiday to. The reason: series like Narcos show how beautiful that land is, and with the civil...
by Ard Vijn

Shivers 2018 Review: THE STANDOFF AT SPARROW CREEK

Writer-director Henry Dunham's thriller The Standoff at Sparrow Creek has met with controversy and criticism well before any footage was actually shown to an audience. Initially titled "Militia" and produced by Cinestate, the project had acquired a reputation for being...
by Ard Vijn

Shivers 2018: What The Audiences Liked Best

Last week saw the fourth edition of the Shivers genre film festival being held in Konstanz, Germany. Its host, the Zebra Kino, may not be the largest of venues and has only one screen, but it's run by a bunch...
by Ard Vijn

Have Your Say: German Cinema

Yesterday saw the end of this year's Shivers Film Festival in the city of Konstanz, in South Germany, right on the border with Switzerland. A fine festival it was too; as always, their selection was small but pretty awesome, with...
by Ard Vijn

Have Your Say: Martin Scorsese

Last Saturday marked Martin Scorsese's 76th birthday, and if that wasn't enough to bring him to my attention (birthdays often aren't), Eureka's new Blu-ray of The Last Waltz arrived in the mail that afternoon. As coincidences go it's a good...