Pretty Packaging: GHOST IN THE SHELL Lands An Ultimate Edition
Blu-ray distributor Plaion, previously known in Germany as Koch Media, has been responsible for some Special Editions which were absolute jawdroppers. Their release of Richard Stanley's The Color Out of Space was a highpoint for me in 2020, and last...
Rotterdam 2023 Interview: Yuasa Masaaki Talks About The Last Nine Years
This winter saw the International Film Festival Rotterdam celebrate the work of Japanese animator Yuasa Masaaki, with a retrospective of the man's work and the Dutch premiere of his newest film Inu-Oh (which is excellent). Yuasa himself was present, finally...
FREAKS VS. THE REICH Review: A Magnificent Dark Fantasy
Gabriele Mainetti ('They Call Me Jeeg') directed the historical fantasy, starring Franz Rogowski, Pietro Castellitto, and Claudio Santamaria.
Kaboom Animation 2023 Review: BLIND WILLOW, SLEEPING WOMAN Sums Up That Murakami Feelin'
As one of the most highly regarded current writers in the world, Haruki Murakami has plenty of fans. His works have often been adapted for film, and even his short stories lend themselves for being adapted into great long films....
Kaboom Animation 2023 Review: UNICORN WARS Is Awesomely Bonkers
Today sees the start of the 2023 edition of the Utrecht-and-Amsterdam-based Kaboom Animation Festival, which focuses on animation worldwide. All audiences are catered for: the festival's programme has a kids section, a great selection of queer movies, many amazing shorts,...
Pretty Packaging: The SHAWSCOPE VOLUME 2 Boxset Kicks Shins Again!
In my 2022 overview article I mentioned that Arrow had released two awesome Shaw Brothers Blu-ray boxsets. I also said that as I had given the first one a "Pretty Packaging" article, the second one would get one as well,...
Rotterdam 2023 Review: INU-OH Is Magnificent Masaaki At His Best
Anime legend Yuasa Masaaki's newest film, the semi-historical musical drama Inu-Oh had its world premiere at the tail-end of 2021. As such, it was originally planned to arrive at the International Film Festival Rotterdam a year ago, together with its...
Rotterdam 2023 Review: Sokurov's Last FAIRYTALE
Russian director Alexander Sokurov makes weird films, or rather really special ones. Most famous of these is probably 2002's Russian Ark, an absolutely fantastic walk through 300 years of Russian history as displayed in the Hermitage museum, done in one...
Rotterdam 2023 Review: ORPHEA IN LOVE Steals Your Eyes And Ears
It must be fun to be an established, experienced director and be able to throw several of your loves into one project. Media Jack-of-all-trades Axel Ranisch got to do just that with his new film Orphea in Love. In it,...
Rotterdam 2023 Review: ONE LAST EVENING Ponders The Value Of Relationships
German director Lukas Nathrat had made several award-winning shorts in the past, but he made the jump to feature film during that most inopportune of times: the Summer of 2020, when Europe slid into a series of lockdowns. Then again,...
Rotterdam 2023 Review: I CAN'T STOP BITING YOU Is Remarkably Toothless
It would be an understatement to say I am a fan of Japanese director Mamoru Oshii's work. His 1995 anime adaptation of Ghost in the Shell is my most-owned film (even this article on my incurable double-dipping of that title...
Rotterdam 2023: What The Audiences Liked Best
It's been a week since the International Film Festival Rotterdam had its closing party. All awards have been given, all guests have returned home, and so have the audiences. It was the first time in three years that people were...
Rotterdam 2023 Review: CONVENIENCE STORY
Japanese director Miki Satoshi has a weird sense of humor, and it shows in the quirky movies he makes. Instant Swamp, Adrift in Tokyo and Turtles Are Surprisingly Fast Swimmers all bear his unmistakable signature. His newest, Convenience Story, divides...
Rotterdam 2023 Review: NO DOGS OR ITALIANS ALLOWED
The French filmmaker Alain Ughetto is not exactly a newcomer, as the man has been creating documentaries and animated stop-motion shorts for more than forty years already. His newest feature, No Dogs or Italians Allowed, is an intimate look at...
Rotterdam 2023 Review: JORAM, A Manhunt Thriller With A Message
Last Wednesday saw the world première of director Devashish Makhija's crime drama Joram at the International Film Festival Rotterdam, but audiences expecting a classic "cops and robbers" film were in for a surprise. For Makhija has a few things to...
Rotterdam 2023 Review: DALVA, Fantastically Acted Gripping Drama
In Emmanuelle Nicot's debut feature film we follow a 12-year-old girl, the titular Dalva, who the authorities have forcefully taken away from her sexually abusive father Jacques. "Rescued" is what you would think, but Dalva is of another opinion, and...
Rotterdam 2023 Review: ONE WIN Is Exactly What You Predict It Is
An underdog sports team of ragtag losers needs to play an incredibly important game and against all odds manages to put up a decent fight, AND on top of that the journey solves the personal problems of several team members....
Rotterdam 2023 Review: VOYAGES EN ITALIE, A Non-Trippy Trip
The first thing which comes to mind to old film fans when they hear a title like Voyages en Italie will be: "Ah, the 1954 Rossellini film with Ingrid Bergman" and they'd be wrong. That film has many names but...
Ard's Dozen Of Musings About 2022
Those wanting a top 12, a top 10 or indeed a top 20 of favorite films in 2022, I will have to refer to the ScreenAnarchy list we published last week. This article, in contrast, is just me spilling text...
ScreenAnarchy's Top 10 Films of 2022
What, it's 2023 already? You're kidding, right? Alas, 2022 has come and gone, as long as every other non-leap year but seeming shorter than most nonetheless. But as Yoda says "Size matters not", so we asked our writers to send...
