Film, David Pollock

The Hot 100 2008

11 Dec 2008

It’s been a helluva year. 2008 has been a time of significant global change, socially, politically and culturally, with Scotland no exception. So here, for your delectation, is The List’s pick of the 100 people, places and things that rocked our world…

Interstate 60

3 Jul 2008

ROAD MOVIE (15) 111min (Scanbox DVD retail) Subtitled ‘Episodes of the Road’, this plays more like an edited version of a primetime US television comedy aimed at teenagers. Written and directed by Bob Gale, comic book writer and regular Robert…

Ellipsis

22 May 2008

PHOTOGRAPHY AND FILM DCA, Dundee, until Sun 22 Jun That these works by three defining female artists form such an easy fit is testament to the expert touch of Lynne Cooke, curator of New York’s Dia Center for the Arts. In terms of style, intention…

The Nines

24 Apr 2008

PSYCHOLOGICAL THRILLER (15) 99mins (Optimum DVD retail/rental) For his varied pedigree alone, screenwriter John August’s debut feature is a worthy curiosity. Having written Doug Liman’s Go, both Charlie’s Angels instalments and three films by Tim…

Luke Fowler: Bogman Palmjaguar

13 Mar 2008

In his new 30-minute film, titled after an eccentric subject who sees himself as being in symbolic union with the great cat, Glasgow filmmaker Luke Fowler manages to combine measured storytelling with a readjusted idea of documentary realism. Bogman…

Howard the Duck

14 Feb 2008

DVD (PG) 111min (Metrodome) Howard the Duck originally appeared in an issue of a 1973 Marvel comic entitled Adventure Into Fear, and perhaps his greatest moment came when thousands of American citizens actually voted for him in the 1976 US…

Les Visiteurs - DVD review

Comedy

31 Jan 2008

As the film which famously out-grossed Jurassic Park in France on its homeland release in 1993, the original Les Visiteurs holds a special place in the hearts of Francophile cinemagoers. It’s really just a reasonably fun slapstick comedy of the sort…

The Duel Project (Aragami and 2LDK)

17 Jan 2008

DOUBLE FEATURE (18) 145min (Tartan Asia Extreme DVD rental/retail) The result of a challenge given to two promising young Japanese directors by Shinya Kawai, the producer of Ring, this taut double feature is an exercise in disciplined filmmaking.

Chase A Crooked Shadow

4 Jan 2008

THRILLER (U) 84min (Optimum DVD retail) Directed by Michael Anderson, a man whose eclectic CV incorporates The Dam Busters and Logan’s Run, this low-key, high-concept thriller works through its original central premise with some solid character…

Fear Is The Key

4 Jan 2008

THRILLER 15 100min (Optimum DVD retail) A rarely-seen cult classic from 1972, this Alistair MacLean adaptation comes loaded with points of interest. Directed by Michael Tuchner (Villain, the big-screen version of The Likely Lads), soundtracked with…

Breaking News - DVD review

(15) 90min

13 Dec 2007

Despite its rather extensive, one-note commentary on the media, this 2004 Hong Kong-set thriller from director Johnnie Fulltime Killer To doesn’t forget its main purpose – to thrill. When resourceful, ruthless heist planner Yuen (Richie Jen) and his…

Elizabeth - Special Edition DVD review

(15) 118min

13 Dec 2007

Given the recent, and rather belated, cinematic release of a sequel to Elizabeth: The Golden Age, a renewed interest in 1998’s original historical drama based on the life of Queen Elizabeth I was inevitable. It may not have started the public’s liking…

The Bow

(15) 89mins (Tartan/DVD retail)

20 Sep 2007

Best known in Western audiences for Bad Guy, 3-Iron and Spring, Summer, Fall, Winter . . . and Spring, enfant terrible Korean director Kim Ki-duk has some serious twisted form in Asian cinema. This one, like most of the others, comes recommended. The…

Man In The Mirror: The Michael Jackson Story

20 Sep 2007

BIOPIC (PG) 87min (Scanbox DVD retail/rental) On the subject of once highly-regarded artists fallen on hard times, this made-for-TV biopic isn’t the finest hour in director Allan Moyle’s career. His first film was the New York-set cult punk classic…

The Red Shoes

20 Sep 2007

HORROR (15) 103mins (Tartan Asia Extreme) Based loosely on the Hans Christian Andersen fairy tale, and the Powell and Pressburger film of the same name, this Korean psychological horror flick’s biggest inspiration is perhaps the likes of The…

The City of Violence

(18) 90min (Premier Asia DVD retail/rental)

23 Aug 2007

Deeply indebted to a host of Western classics, this dazzling flick by Korean director Ryoo Seung-wan smoothly blends all of its influences into a fast-paced, gorgeous-looking whole. With shades of Get Carter, the hard-bitten (and just plain hard…

Dead Man's Cards

1 Aug 2007

In modern day Liverpool, washed-up boxer Tom (co-writer James McMartin) accepts a job on the door of a low-rent Liverpool pub alongside the principled but violent Paul (Paul Barber aka Denzil from Only Fools and Horses’).

Dragon Tiger Gate

DVD

16 Jul 2007

MARTIAL ARTS DRAGON TIGER GATE (15) 86mins (Showbox DVD retail/rental) Based on the popular Manga Oriental Hero and directed by veteran Hong Kong action director Wilson Yip alongside Hong Kong actor and stunt choreographer Donnie Yen…

DVD - Aaltra

2 Jul 2007

BLACK COMEDY Gustave de Kervern and Benoit Delépine - the writers, directors and stars of this odd but strangely heart-warming Belgian road movie - are comedians in their home country, and quite obviously blessed with the blackest and most…

Golgo 13

Comics

11 Apr 2007

DVD A kind of nascent animé James Bond, the re-release of this 1983 action film was based on the long-running Manga comic of the same name. When taciturn, Asian super-assassin Golgo 13 is hired to bump off a Mafia boss, the job leads him up an alley…