London | the m0vie blog

Non-Review Review: Dreams of a Life

Posted on December 29, 2011 by Darren

From Irish director Carol Morley, Dreams of a Life is a fascinating and occasionally heartbreaking exploration of the death of Joyce Vincent, the young lady found dead in her flat above a London Shopping Centre. Joyce had been dead for three years before anybody noticed, her body only recovered when her landlord secured a repossession order for the small, sparsely decorated flat where she had been living. The most surreal detail of all, and one of the lingering questions at the end of the document, concerns the Christmas presents found wrapped beside her body. Who were they for? And how did their intended recipients never notice that Joyce was missing.

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Filed under: Non-Review Reviews | Tagged: Carol Morley, christmas, Dreams of a Life, Human League, IFI, Isaac Hayes, Joyce, Joyce Vincent, London, Morley, nelson mandela, non-review review, review | Leave a comment »

Non-Review Review: Get Carter

Posted on October 18, 2011 by Darren

Get Carter still makes a very unsettling viewing experience, one that feels no more comfortable for the fact that it has been forty years since the film was originally released. The fact that the film’s grim and perverted vision of modern Britain has been imitated countless times doesn’t diminish its impact. On one level, Get Carter is a very British exploitation film, but it’s also a fairly powerful look at the urban underworld festering in surroundings far too familiar.

All washed up?

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Filed under: Non-Review Reviews | Tagged: Carter, Cinema of the United Kingdom, film, Get Carter, Jack Carter, Jimmy Carter, London, Michael Caine, Mike Hodge, Mike Hodges, Movie, Newcastle, non-review review, pornography, review, Ted Lewis | 2 Comments »

Non-Review Review: London Boulevard

Posted on November 29, 2010 by Darren

The British criminal underworld has provided a background for countless movies over the past few decades, a rich cinematic tapestry drawing from classics like Brighton Rock through to neo noir like The Long Good Friday to modern pop classics like Lock, Stock & Two Smoking Barrels. However, London Boulevard isn’t a masterpiece like the earlier examples. It tries to find a niche balance between gritty urban violence and surreal bizarre quirkiness, but ends up just positioning itself awkwardly between comedy and action, never really finding its own footing.