Alex Mack, Eerie Indiana and Ethan Hawke

In my quest to envelop myself in 90s nostalgia I recently watched the entire first series of The Secret World of Alex Mack starring Larisa Oleynik from 10 Things I Hate About You. Her attire of oversized checked shirts and jeans pretty much sums up my wardrobe as a kid. It didn't stand up to the test of time, but it had its moments, you can read my review over at Starburst Magazine .

Let's be honest, nothing was going to compare 90s kids show wise considering my love for

Eerie Indiana (more on this soon).

I also watched A Midnight Clear - a film I had never seen before - it's set in 1944 (released in 1992) as the Second World War was coming to an end and follows a squad of US soldiers who have been placed together due to their above average intelligence.

Ethan Hawke stars in an early role, and his performance is full of its usual intensity.

It also features a young cast of Kevin Dillon, Peter Berg, Ayre Gross, Frank Whaley and Gary Sinise - who all shine in their roles.

You can read my review over at Cinetalk



Terracotta Film Festival and Third Window

Himizu closes the Terracotta Film festival, which runs from 12-15th April at the Prince Charles Cinema in London, and I have reviewed over on Starburst Magazine. It is based on bestselling manga by Minoru Furuya and is Sion Sono's reaction to the Japanese earthquake and tsunami of 2011. Himizu is released by Third Window from 1st June in the UK.

My Way opens the festival on 12th April and is epic goodness, the wonderful Charlotte Linton  has reviwed it here.

 Monsters Club is also showing at the festival; I saw it last year at TIFF and although it was not what I was expecting it still has some visually original and stunning moments. You can read my thoughts on Cinetalk.

Third Window are also set to release Kotoko this year in the UK and I can only recommend this film. It is absolutely insane, disorientating and mesmerising.

I recently reviewed Adrift in Tokyo (out on DVD now) for the fab Filmoria another one I would recommend.

Full Programme for the festival here.

Mirror Mirror

Tarsem Singh's Mirror Mirror is an enjoyable and beautiful spin on the Snow White fairytale. The still above is from an unexpected and truly inspired dance sequence from the end of the film. Hang around to watch this bit and see Armie Hammer's attempt at dancing. 

You can read my review over on Starburst.

Thanks to this scene I remembered one of my all time favourite things...the accomplished and joyful  tap dance sequence at the end of Zatoichi.

Tiny Furniture, Lena Dunham and Girls

The female slacker mentality is summed up perfectly by Lena Dunham in her film Tiny Furniture which I urge you all to go and see. It is out in the UK today after a very long wait.

You can read my review over on Cinetalk.

Lena Dunham is a bright young talent who amuses me most days with her exquisite tweets @lenadunham and funny photos.

Her musings on threesomes and the difficulty of putting your tights on in the car are joyful!

Look forward to her new HBO series Girls 

Daria and The Doom Generation

Last week I hung up my coconutboots and swapped them for Daria boots* as I travelled back to the nineties to watch Gregg Araki's The Doom Generation.

The soundtrack features Nine Inch Nails, The Jesus and Mary Chain and Aphex Twin whose overly long music videos were always a highlight of my youth:

The Doom Generation is part of Gregg Araki’s “Teenage Apocalypse Trilogy” (out on DVD now) the other films being Totally Fucked Up and Nowhere. 

You can read my review over on Starburst

*copyright Dawn Hughes

Corman's World

Whether you are a fan of Roger Corman’s work or not this is an engaging, fascinating and inspiring look at a prolific director and his legacy.

I don't think I can sum up the love I have for Corman but I give it a go in my review over on Starburst

Out on Blu-ray and DVD on 26th March.

Love, Sex and Death

The 50th anniversary edition of Love on a Pillow (Le Repos du Guerrier) is out now on DVD. 

It is over the top French romance. So obviously I loved it.

You can read my review on Cinetalk

In Darkness is currently out in the UK at cinemas. It is everything all the quotes on the poster claim it to be. I spent ages writing about it because there was so much to say about it. Unfortunately in a moment of stupidity I wiped my laptop and lost my review.

Mairéad Roche has written an in depth review over on Cinemart. You can read it here.

It is a powerful story told with honesty and an artitistic eye.

Themes of humanity are dealt with extremely well and the animalistic urge of humans is portrayed through some exceptionally well crafted sex scenes that remove the need for dialogue in making a statement. Director, Agnieszka Holland, also doesn't shy away from the subject of female masturbation.

A Horrible Way to Die is stand out horror that deserves credit for approaching the genre in a creative way.  You can read my review on Cinetalk.

It is out on DVD now.