Tom Jolliffe offers up an essential John Woo selection… John Woo has been a little quiet of late, but the legendary Hong Kong filmmaker is set to make his Hollywood return this year with his “comeback” movie Silent Night, which has just received its first trailer this week. To the uninitiated, John Woo was once […]
Ten Essential Korean Cinema Gems
Tom Jolliffe offers up some essential Korean cinema gems… While Bong Joon-ho’s Parasite garnered global attention on its way to becoming the first non-English language film to win the Academy Award for Best Picture back in 2020, Korean cinema has been crafting trend setting, ahead of the curve cinema for years and always comfortable to […]
The Essential Paranoia Films
Tom Jolliffe offers up an essential selection of paranoia films… Who likes a good hearty dose of paranoia? Okay, in real life it’s not too enjoyable. In cinema? It’s a gift for film-makers looking to tap into that feeling within their audience. There are a lot of great examples of paranoia-themed films, and when a […]
10 Essential Football Films
With the World Cup about to get underway, Tom Jolliffe offers up ten essential football films… The beautiful game. It inspires fevered passion across the globe. Football (let’s not open this can of worms my US chums…it is football, the one with the round ball you might call soccer), it’s a communal experience that can […]
Ten Essential Film4 Films
Tom Jolliffe with ten essential films from Film4… Film4, under the Channel 4 banner, has championed great cinema for nearly 40 years. Whether producing independently or co-producing (often with indie studios or European production houses), there’s a stamp of quality that comes associated with the mark of Film4 (or Channel 4 films). For the most […]
The Essential Don “The Dragon” Wilson Movies
Tom Jolliffe on the essential films of Don “The Dragon” Wilson… The wondrous lure of the video rental store. Slightly sticky carpets with weathered fibres in the horror and/or erotica sections. Many a lumbering boot had trod before the shelf where the latest Shannon Tweed films were housed. I’d spend ages perusing and taking in […]
Ten Essential Serial Killer Films
Tom Jolliffe offers up ten essential serial killer films… Cinema has long had a fascination with the macabre. The serial killer film has been a staple since the silent period with films tending to cross between an array of genre, most notably drama, thriller and horror (and in more recent cinematic history, black comedy). There […]
Back to 2001: Ten Essential Movies from Twenty Years Ago
Tom Jolliffe ventures back 20 years to 2001 and offers up 10 essential films from that year… It’s a little bit frightening but 20 years ago we had become well ensconced in the 21st century. The first apocalypse had been averted and we were slowly ambling toward 2012 hoping the Mayans were wrong (spoiler alert, […]
The Essential Tony Leung Films
Tom Jolliffe offers up ten essential Tony Leung films… With boyish good looks, charisma and immense gravitas, Tony Leung has been mesmerising audiences for over 40 years. As well as an ability to convey so much through saying so little, he also has the rare ability to drift between genres as comfortably as anyone. He’s […]
Essential Japanese Horror Movies
Tom Jolliffe offers up some essential Japanese horror movies… When it comes to horror cinema across Asia, Japan in particular has had a long association and skill with the genre. The early 00’s boom in particular saw a huge interest in Japanese horror, but long before some of these iconic films like The Grudge or Dark […]