Phoenix DVD Blog

There was a time when a new film felt like an event. You might see the trailer months beforehand, wait for the cinema release and then wait all over again for the DVD to appear. Some films lived up to the anticipation, while others did not, but there always seemed to be something new worth watching. Today, we have more films and television available than ever before, yet finding something genuinely exciting can often feel harder. That may partly be nostalgia. Every generation remembers the films it grew up with more fondly. However, I also think the movie industry itself has changed. Studios appear more cautious, familiar franchises are revisited repeatedly, actors are expected to promote opinions as well as films, and publicity sometimes receives more attention than the finished movie. This page brings together my posts about Hollywood, directors, actors and the changing movie industry. These are not insider reports or academic studies. They are personal observations from someone who ...

I was watching Starship Troopers again recently, almost 30 years after I first saw it in the cinema back in 1997. Some films lose their appeal over time. The effects begin to look dated, the acting seems worse than you remember, or the story simply doesn't hold up as well as it once did. Starship Troopers isn't one of those films. It's cheesy, corny, camp, ridiculously violent and completely over the top. Some of the dialogue is laughable, the characters are exaggerated and the entire production feels like somebody gave a director an enormous budget and told him to go mad. And I absolutely love it. I've owned the film on DVD and subsequently upgraded to Blu-ray, which remains a fantastic way to watch it. The picture is remarkably clear, the sound is excellent and those enormous alien bugs still look magnificent. If I eventually invest in a 4K Blu-ray player, I might find myself buying it for a third time. That's the thing about a film you genuinely enjoy. You don...

I've recently found myself with rather more time on my hands than I would normally like. An unexpected illness has put me out of action for a while, which means plenty of opportunities to sit down, put my feet up and watch a few films. You would think that would be a film collector's dream. With several streaming services available, hundreds of films to choose from and more new releases appearing every week, I should be spoiled for choice. And yet, something rather strange keeps happening. I browse through the latest films, find something that looks reasonably interesting, press play and, ten or fifteen minutes later, find myself reaching for the remote again. Off it goes. Not because I've suddenly lost interest in films. Far from it. More often than not, I'll end up watching something from the late 1980s, 1990s, 2000s or even the early to mid-2010s. Films I've already seen several times and, in some cases, practically know by heart. And I'll enjoy every minute ...

The Resident Evil films are a strange franchise for me because, while I own and have watched the complete series, there is really only one film that has always stood out clearly in my memory. The first one. Released in 2002, Resident Evil felt like a proper video game brought to life. It had confined spaces, locked doors, underground laboratories, strange creatures appearing from nowhere and the constant feeling that something was waiting around the next corner to kill you. You could almost imagine holding the controller while watching it. The films that followed gradually moved further away from that feeling and became bigger, louder and much more action-orientated, but Milla Jovovich remained the constant throughout the entire series. She was very well cast as Alice and, whatever you think of the direction the franchise eventually took, it is difficult to imagine these films without her. If you enjoy darker franchises built around monsters, survival, ruined worlds and characters wh...

Some movie franchises begin with a huge budget, an established name and plans for several sequels. Riddick did almost the opposite. It began with a relatively small science-fiction horror film built around a hostile planet, a group of survivors and something extremely dangerous waiting for the darkness. That film was Pitch Black , and for me it remains one of the most distinctive science-fiction movies of its era.

Some films simply feel bigger than others. I do not mean bigger budgets, longer running times or more computer-generated armies filling the screen. A true epic needs scale, sweeping landscapes, powerful music, historical conflict and a central character caught between different people, loyalties or causes. The best epics lift me before the story has even fully begun. Their musical scores alone can create a swell of emotion in my chest that is difficult to describe. Add an excellent surround-sound system and suddenly the entire house knows that something important is happening on screen. These are not films I watch once and forget. Every few months, I feel the need to put one of them on again, especially now, when Hollywood seems to be producing fewer and fewer films that feel genuinely worth watching. This is only one side of my film collection. For more recommendations built around different genres, occasions and moods, visit Movie Picks for Every Mood – 5-Film Lists from a Lifelong C...