A Dangerous Method: lavish but perfunctory treatment of three psychoanalysts
David Cronenberg, “A Dangerous Method” (2011) Adapted from Christopher Hampton’s stage play “The Talking Cure” which itself is based on John Kerr’s book “A Most Dangerous…
nausika
28 Weeks Later: film has more Swiss-cheese holes than the zombies make in their victims
Juan Carlos Fresnadillo, “28 Weeks Later” (2007) On paper it looked like a good idea: a sequel to the original zombies-on-the-run flick “28 Days Later” by…
Australian and New Zealand Films
A welcome look at the importance of an independent label in the music industry through “Heavenly Pop Hits: the Flying Nun Story”
Mitchell Hawkes, “Heavenly Pop Hits: the Flying Nun Story” (2002) A long overdue and welcome survey of a particular music scene at a particular time in…
Sleep Tight My Baby: one take is all it takes for an effective horror short
Pansu Kim, “Sleep Tight My Baby” (2001) Very devastating film about a teenage girl trapped with a baby and quarrelling parents filmed in one continuous take; much…
French and French-language Films, German and German-language Films
Carnage: comedy of no-manners patronises Americans and diminishes its audiences
Roman Polanski, “Carnage” (2011) Not one of his better efforts due to the nature of the original play but then again, a comedy from Polanski is…
The Century of the Self (Episode 4: Eight People sipping Wine in Kettering): too much focus on politics, not enough on culture and society
Adam Curtis, “The Century of the Self (Episode 4: Eight People sipping Wine in Kettering)” (2002) Final episode in this 4-part documentary series brings the penetration…
The Century of the Self (Episode 3: There is a Policeman inside all Our Heads – He must be Destroyed): a stroll through an amusement park of curious cultural fads and trends
Adam Curtis, “The Century of the Self (Episode 3: There is a Policeman inside all Our Heads – He must be Destroyed)” (2002) The third installment in Curtis’s…
The Century of the Self (Episode 2: The Engineering of Consent): the use of psychoanalysis as tool for social control
Adam Curtis, “The Century of the Self (Episode 2: The Engineering of Consent)” (2002) This episode continues Curtis’s investigation of the ways in which Freudian psychoanalysis…
Coriolanus: an examination of a simple man and his place in a duplicitous and corrupt society
Ralph Fiennes, “Coriolanus” (2011) When I was 28 years of age, a mysterious Shakespeare-reading frenzy seized me and before I knew what I was doing, I had…
Kony 2012: is this film astroturfing for a US invasion of eastern Africa?
Jason Russell, “Kony 2012” (2012) Having heard about nothing else but this 30-minute feature going viral across Youtube and various social networking sites, I determined to…