DMovies - Your platform for thought-provoking cinema

Jack Hawkins

Film and history writer

London writer with a keen interest in New Hollywood auteurs


Jack Hawkins is a writer and film critic. He’s interested in films from every genre and every era, but his favourite work comes from the world of neo-noir and the New Hollywood auteurs.


Other posts by Jack Hawkins
DANNY. LEGEND. GOD.
Inspired by the Belgian classic MAN BITES DOG, Bulgarian mockumentary ridicules the nouveau riche of Eastern Europe - on Amazon Prime on Monday, May 3rd. [Read More...]

Sex and death, the beginning and the end
As part of our Peter Greenaway series, Jack Hawkins looks at two inextricably linked topics that recur in every single one of his films [Read More...]

The Owners
A seemingly harmless elderly couple have a surprise in store for a group of young thieves, in auspicious horror movie starring Maisie Williams - out on Monday, February 22nd [Read More...]

Flint: Who Can You Trust?
The director of 'You’ve Been Trumped' explores the public health crisis afflicting the titular American city, in documentary narrated by Alex Baldwin - available on BBC iPlayer from Wednesday, December 2nd [Read More...]

Full Contact
This unpredictable Dutch-Croatian psychodrama blends the commentary of Andrew Niccol's 'Good Kill' with the delirious male alienation of David Fincher's 'Fight Club' - available for free during the entire month of December only with ArteKino [Read More...]

Love me Tender
What begins as an earthy character study of agoraphobia morphs into a dirtylicious quirkfest - watch Swiss dramedy for free in December as part of ArteKino [Read More...]

Striding Into The Wind
Chinese road movie about a cranky film student who sets off from Beijing to Inner Mongolia offers insight into the country's vastness, but is sorely lacking in excitement - from the BFI London Film Festival [Read More...]

One Night in Miami
First-time director imagines the meeting of Muhammad Ali, Malcolm X, Sam Cooke and Jim Brown (which never happened), and the outcome is surprisingly convincing - out on VoD on Friday, January 15th [Read More...]

Limbo
Refugee crisis drama is a deft blend of the humorous and the dramatic - British movie premieres at the BFI London Film Festival (and it's soon on Mubi) [Read More...]

The Reason I Jump
Enjoy the silence? Autistic people communicate in a variety on nonverbal ways, dispelling the notion that they are apathetic and cold -from at the BFI London Film Festival [Read More...]

Stray
A brand new PAWSpective: see the world from the eyes of our best friend, in this innovative and enrapturing little doc - now also available on Netflix [Read More...]

Shadow Country (Krajina ve Stínu)
Urgent and brilliant Czech movie charts the history of village on Austrian border ravaged by the tyranny of mid-20th century Europe - live from the BFI London Film Festival [Read More...]

Rocks
Girls of various religions and ethnic backgrounds rock East London, in this potent burst of social realism entirely made by women - Best Casting Bafta winner is now available on Netflix [Read More...]

Bulletproof
Crime thriller has strong performances and a dash of cinéma vérité, yet it does not transcend its derivations of character and narrative - on VoD on Monday, September 7th [Read More...]

You’ve Been Trumped Too
Documentary shows Donald Trump in all his magnificent repulsiveness, but unfortunately it's more an encore than a sequel to its sterling predecessor - on VoD on Tuesday, August 18th [Read More...]

Around the Sun
A film location scout touring a repossessed and crumbling French chateau engages with a coquettish stranger, in this peculiar British movie - on VoD on Tuesday, August 4th [Read More...]

Spaceship Earth
Three decades ago, eight visionaries quarantine themselves inside Biosphere 2, a self-engineered replica of Earth's ecosystem; find out what happened - on Digital and selected cinemas on Friday, July 10th [Read More...]

Guest of Honour
David Thewlis shines in an offbeat but overwrought investigative melodrama from Atom Egoyan - now on Curzon Home Cinema [Read More...]

Screened Out
Provocative documentary addressing our dependency on mobile phones (the director being a self-confessed addict) is both sobering and skilfully made - now also available on Netflix [Read More...]

The Final Wish
A formulaic premise, disposable characterwork and risible scares prevent this horror flick about a grief-stricken mother and a haunted urn from gaining much traction - on VoD Monday, May 25th [Read More...]

Talking About Trees
An amiable film society attempt to revive Sudan’s film culture in this arrestingly framed documentary from Suhaib Gasmelbari - out on Monday, April 27th [Read More...]

Bad Guys
With crisp visuals, natural dialogue and a brooding original score, this Brighton indie shows real promise - on Amazon Prime now [Read More...]

The Painted Bird
Vaclav Marhoul's passionate adaptation of Jerzy Kosinski's Holocaust novel is a brutal meditation on the cyclical nature of prejudice and cruelty - in cinemas on Friday, September 11th [Read More...]

Danger Close: The Battle of Long Tan
War drama chronicles one of the Vietnam War's lesser-known clashes, in which Kiwi and Aussie soldiers played a prominent role - on VoD and DVD on Monday, April 6th [Read More...]

The Hunt
Sadistic elites gather at a remote location in order to hunt down hapless plebs for fun, in this twisted satire of modern-day US  - in cinemas Wednesday, March 11th. [Read More...]

Escape from Pretoria
Daniel Radcliffe and Daniel Webber star in this real-life drama about two white political prisoners who hatch an ambitious plot to escape from prison - on all major VoD platforms on Monday, March 7th [Read More...]

True History Of The Kelly Gang
George McKay shines as the feral Australian outlaw in this divisive and dirty fact-bending nightmare - on VoD on Monday, June 22nd. [Read More...]

First Love (Hatsukoi)
There's no denying its production values, but Takashi Miike's First Love is a vapid crime caper that's outlandish to a fault - now available on VoD [Read More...]

#AnneFrank: Parallel Stories
The story of Anne Frank is packaged for the smart phone generation in this robust, albeit familiar documentary featuring Helen Mirren - now on Netflix [Read More...]

Amanda
Mikhaël Hers's meditation on loss and estrangement has an effortless naturalism, but lacks a visceral edge - in cinemas Friday, January 3rd [Read More...]

1917
Inspired by the stories of his grandfather, Sam Mendes has made the biggest and best First World War film of the 21st century - now also available on Netflix [Read More...]

Jojo Rabbit
Taika Waititi's offbeat style of humour fails to skewer Fascism in this lamentably weak satire of Adolf Hitler and the Nazi state - on VoD on Monday, April 27th [Read More...]

Shooting the Mafia
Director Kim Longinotto presents a short history of Sicilian culture with photojournalist Letizia Battaglia as the focaliser - in cinemas Friday, November 29th [Read More...]

The Cave
In this National Geographic documentary, director Feras Fayyad captures the bravery and perseverance of besieged doctors fighting to save the people of Damascus - out in UK cinemas Friday, December 6th. [Read More...]

Le Mans ’66 (aka Ford v Ferrari)
Designer and driver with very different personalities grapple with corporate interests as they attempt to create a revolutionary race car for Ford, in this fast-paced, real-life story starring Christian Bale and Matt Damon - on Disney+ on Friday, April 15th; also available on other platforms [Read More...]

Clemency
Nigerian director Chinonye Chukwu considers the emotional impact of capital punishment, and the outcome is mostly lifeless - on VoD on Friday, July 17th [Read More...]

Rambo: Last Blood
Sylvester Stallone sleepwalks into a litany of violence in this gnarly swansong to his defining character - on VoD Friday, May 21st [Read More...]

Coup 53
Veteran filmmaker Taghi Amirani investigates British involvement in the 1953 Iranian coup d'etat - in virtual cinemas across the UK, Ireland, the US and Canada from Friday, August 21st [Read More...]

American Woman
Life must go on for a young woman after her teen daughter goes missing, in this dirty kitchen sink drama starring Sienna Miller - on VoD in April [Read More...]

Hotel Mumbai
The 2008 Mumbai terrorist attacks are recreated to convincing results, in thriller blending real stories with fiction - now available on VoD [Read More...]

Apocalypse Now (Final Cut)
As Coppola's war classic gets a crisp 4K Ultra HD and Blu-ray 40th anniversary edition, Jack Hawkins looks back at what makes the film so memorable - now on Mubi [Read More...]

Scary Stories to Tell in the Dark
New fantasy horror produced by Guillermo del Toro is neither scary nor original, however it does excel in technical proficiency - now available on VoD [Read More...]

Killer Kate!
This American microbudget slasher is a real killer, but not quite in the way one would hope: it's simply painful to watch - now available on VoD [Read More...]

Midnight Cowboy
Five decades after its original release, the New Hollywood trailblazer with kitchen sink flavours remains as powerful and evocative as ever - BFI re-edition is in cinemas Friday, September 13th [Read More...]

Fast & Furious: Hobbs & Shaw
The Fast & Furious saga continues to bloat and extend with the franchise’s ninth instalment and first spin-off - now available on VoD [Read More...]

Is violence the only way out?
Jack Hawkins lists five dirty films where the characters resort to shocking violence as an unexpected cathartic device, as they snap under various types of pressure [Read More...]

10 films that depict the post-Holocaust experience
Jack Hawkins lists 10 dirty movies that are preoccupied with the aftermath of the systematic extermination of Jews during WW2 in Europe [Read More...]

When violence gets dirty…
Jack Hawkins picks ten films that are *about* violence, explaining the dirty connotations behind the brutality, bloodshed and destructiveness [Read More...]

DMovies Poll

Are the Oscars dirty enough for DMovies?

View Results

Loading ... Loading ...

Most Read

Forget Friday the 13th, Paranormal Activity and the [Read More...]
Just a few years back, finding a film [Read More...]
A lot of British people would rather forget [Read More...]
Pigs might fly. And so Brexit might happen. [Read More...]
Sexual diversity is at the very heart of [Read More...]
Films quotes are very powerful not just because [Read More...]

Facebook Comment

Website Comments

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *