A personal journal of film and documentary reviews, and reviews of anything else that intrigues me.
French and French-language Films
Jean Vigo, “Taris, Roi du L’Eau” (1931) Sports documentaries don’t come any more poetic, beautiful and experimental than this early short by Jean Vigo about the…
French and French-language Films
Jean Vigo, “Zéro de Conduite: Jeunes Diables au College” (1933) One of four films made by French director Jean Vigo before his life was cut short…
German and German-language Films
Kurt Bernhardt, “The Tunnel / Der Tunnel” (1933) Based on the eponymous 1913 novel by Bernard Kellerman and itself a second adaptation of the novel –…
German and German-language Films
Hans Werckmeister, “Algol, Tragedy of Power / Algol, Tragödie der Macht” (1920) A wonderful science fiction movie from the era of German Expressionist classics like “The…
Maurice Elvey, “The Transatlantic Tunnel” (1935) A visually handsome if very flawed science fiction film, “The Transatlantic Tunnel” is one of three films made in the…
Arkadi Sirenko, “The Temptation of B / Iskushenie B” (1990) A curious film, one of the last made in the Soviet Union before its downfall in…
Derren Brown and Simon Dinsell, “Derren Brown – Fear and Faith (Part 2)” (2012) In this second episode of “Fear and Faith”, UK hypnotist / skeptic…
Derren Brown and Simon Dinsell, “Derren Brown – Fear and Faith (Part 1)” (2012) In this two-part series, UK hypnotist and skeptic Derren Brown investigates the…
Aleksandr Andriyevsky, “Gibel’ Sensatsii / Loss of Feeling” (1935) A very handsome-looking film made in 1935, “Gibel’ Sensatsii” is sometimes also known as “The Robots of…
Lev Kuleshov, “The Death Ray / Luch Smerti” (1925) A silent Soviet action thriller that starts with a workers’ revolt in a factory which is crushed…