Wednesday 27 March 2013

Episode One - Punishment Park





Peter Watkins is arguably one of the most underrated and under appreciated filmmakers of all time. His documentary approach to fictional filmmaking is both unique and challenging in a way many modern audiences may have become unaccustomed too.

Watkins career never saw him become a mainstream director, his one studio production 1967’s Privilege was not a commercial success although it did not stop Watkins from making several more films.

In this first episode of the Masters of Cinema Cast Joakim and I will be discussing the Blu Ray re-release of his 1971 film Punishment Park.

It is a film that could hardly be described as easy going wearing its political heart well and truly on its sleeve. It is possibly the most angry of Watkins films too, the 60’s had come and gone and the cultural and sociological revolution many had anticipated had failed to materialise. Vietnam was still raging and even the Apollo moon landings were now barley making the news.

Yet Punishment Park is not merely a relic of its time. Even today it is still frightening pertinent and in the wake of the War on Terror and the blurring of the lines of morality remains as powerful now as it was on its release.

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Tuesday 19 March 2013

A few things before we begin.


Welcome to The Masters of Cinema Cast. Before we begin with the shows here is a few things about the show.

The idea behind this new podcast venture was to shine a light on the excellent releases of Masters of Cinema. For those of you who don't know Masters of Cinema are a UK based distributor of contemporary and classic cinema; much like Criterion, Masters of Cinema release titles that in many cases would not see the light of day were it not for them.

Distributors such as Criterion and Masters of Cinema deserve to be celebrated which is exactly what Joakim and I intend to do with this new podcast. Much like the excellent Criterion Cast each episode of The Masters of Cinema Cast will pick a release and review the film as well as taking a look at what special features the release has along with news and rumors.

This blog space is very much a holding page with a more detailed and functional site to come soon. In the meantime enjoy the show and please let us know your thoughts.

Tom and Joakim.