Zero Dark Thirty: a journey into a heart of darkness … in its “heroine”
Kathryn Bigelow, “Zero Dark Thirty” (2012) This film purports to document the hunt for World Public Enemy No 1, the Saudi national Osama bin Laden, and…
nausika
The Impossible: a real human story is the ultimate victim in this pedestrian disaster movie
Juan Antonio Bayona, “The Impossible / Lo Impossible” (2012) Someone should have told Ewan McGregor and Naomi Watts before they signed up to this film the…
The Bank of North Dakota: how a state-owned bank overcame ideological and political opposition on the road to success
Prairie Public Television, “The Bank of North Dakota” (2005) In an age in which large private banks have a stranglehold over governments and economies, and by…
Italian and Italian-language Films
At the Mountains of Madness: ambitious adaptation of the famous H P Lovecraft story of the Cthulhu mythos
Michele Botticelli, “At the Mountains of Madness” (2011) With the release of Ridley Scott’s “Prometheus” in 2012 and Guillermo del Toro’s resumption of the movie project…
Unearthed: a good-looking pastiche of different Hollywood movie story-lines and plot elements
Lindsay Harris and Stuart Leach, “Unearthed” (2011) On the edge of the known universe, a mining spacecraft The Ezekiel discovers an uncharted barren planet that may…
German and German-language Films, North American Films
1945A / The Gift / R-Ha: three science fiction shorts that show creative and visionary promise
Ryan Nagata, “1945A” (2010) Carl Erik Rinsch, “The Gift” (2010) Kaleb Lechowski, “R-Ha” (2012) These films have a few things in common: they’re very short science…
Australian and New Zealand Films
In the Footsteps of the Ancestors – Muslims Down Under: a mostly positive view of Australian Muslims and their history and cultures
Nada Roude, “In the Footsteps of the Ancestors – Muslims Down Under” (2009) A little known timeline of Australian history extends further back than 1788 when…
Australian and New Zealand Films
Dirty Business: How Mining made Australia (Episode 3): mining as political power player highlighted by indigenous Australia’s fight for justice
Jacob Hickey, “Dirty Business: How Mining made Australia (Episode 3)” (2012) Final and best episode in a three-part series, this documentary examines the mostly unhappy relationship…
One Man Metal: brief survey of one-man black metal acts and their physical, psychological and social isolation
J Robinson (Noisey / VICE) “One Man Metal” (2012) An interesting if bare-bones three-part documentary, this film looks at three one-man black metal acts: Leviathan, Striborg…
The Wild, Wild West (Season 2, Episode 20: Night of the Vicious Valentine): fantasy, eccentricity and camp comedy in an original plot
Irving Moore, “The Wild, Wild West (Season 2, Episode 20: Night of the Vicious Valentine)” (1966) This episode is notable for winning the series its only…