DVD & VOD

Review by Leslie Byron Pitt This film broke me. Perhaps it was the all too real nods to customer services. The seminars, the platitudes and the like. It might have been the brilliant chemistry between the cast. The voices of David Thewlis and Jenifer Jason Leigh provide a spark so strong that it made me realise just how much that's missing from romances and dramas. Maybe those things helped. However, upon thinking about it, I feel it may have been...

Review by Leslie Byron Pitt “Why are these people, friends?” Is the type of question you could find yourself asking when observing Alex Ross Perry’s quietly startling Queen of Earth. And rightly so. The film froths with a near overbearing deep-seated resentment which could make the psycho-biddies of the sixties flinch. However, despite the trading of venom that is applied between the film’s two lead female stars, the co-dependency the flitters around the couple is something that holds an acute...

Review by Leslie Byron Pitt/@Afrofilmviewer Son of Saul is the type of movie that has to be seen when the viewer in the right state of mind. Least they find themselves equally as trapped within the films tight compositions, as the titular Saul. A Jewish–Hungarian prisoner held within the confines of Nazi extermination camp Auschwitz, Saul Ausländer (Géza Röhrig) works at the camp as one of the infamous Sonderkommando. He aids Jews into the gas chambers, fed on lies of...

Review by Leslie Byron Pitt/@Afrofilmviewer Magnus von Horn’s frosty debut feature; The Here After, has the lead; John (Ulrik Munther), looking to start anew after serving two years in prison for a violent crime. What occurred is revealed slowly in muted detail. We know enough to understand what happened, but the film never lingers fully on the crime. Indeed the film is more concerned on the aftermath and how a small community looks upon one of their own. The wide-eyed...

Review by Michael McNulty John Hillcoat’s newest film, Triple 9 is a tense corrupt cop, crime thriller, with a star lineup that’s hard to rival. Sure, the plot is shakier than the camerawork on Cloverfield, packed with genre clichés, predictable plot points, and one of Kate Winslet’s most questionable performances ever, and maybe Hillcoat’s nihilistic commentary on the disintegration of trust, the pervasiveness of violence and America’s disenchantment is flat. But, put all that to one side and Triple 9...

Review by Leslie Byron Pitt/@Afrofilmviewer Burr Steers’ (Igby Goes Down) Pride and Prejudice and Zombies, much like a particular brand of wood varnish, delivers exactly what is said on the tin. This film is based on Jane Austen’s seminal novel and features the undead. A drab way to start this review. Then again, this film, despite its unique take on a 19th-century critique on status, romance and manners, doesn’t really extract as much humour and horror as it could. Much...

One of the strengths of the series since the pilot episode has been the characterisation of not only our regular band of misfits, but also the ancillary characters that prop up the world of Annville. ‘Monster Swamp’ sees Jesse fade into the background, in favour of fleshing out the side characters and the writing team does this admirably – continuing to weave the webs that connect the members of this community. The episode opens with imagery that wouldn’t be out...

After an action packed episode 2, Preacher returns to its famed slow boil this week using this latest outing to unpack the characters and reward the audience with some startling revelations. Spending the first two episodes tearing through Texas, we open with Tulip trading in the map she stole in the pilot – it turns out it was mere currency for the last known address of an ex-accomplice. Whilst we don’t see what the map contains, it’s great to finally see...

Review by Leslie Byron Pitt/@Afrofilmviewer As we are seemingly embarking on a more skeptical and paranoid, right-leaning era, it's more than a little disheartening that Trumbo pulls it's lefty punches and holds no real political relevancy. Whether this is partly due to the film being made way before the feverish excitement of Trump delirium, or the simple fact that director Jay Roach is only really interested investing in the political aspects Hollywood's golden age with the spikes removed. These are...