A personal journal of film and documentary reviews, and reviews of anything else that intrigues me.
Australian and New Zealand Films, Multi-media Presentations
Ms&Mr, “Xerox Missive 1977 / 2011”, multi-channel video installation (2011) Technically not a film but a multi-channel video art installation using old archived video recordings among other…
Hiromasa Yonebayashi, “Arrietty / Karu-gurashi no Arrietti” (2010) A charming offering from Studio Ghibli, based loosely on Mary Norton’s novel “The Borrowers”, this film is beautiful…
Shane Carruth, “Primer” (2004) A low-budget film (it cost about US$7,000 to make) about four enterpreneurial engineer / scientist friends and work colleagues working on an…
Guy Maddin, “Fancy, Fancy Being Rich” (2002), “My Dad is 100 Years Old” (2005), “Spanky: To the Pier and Back” (2008), “Send Her to the ‘Lectric Chair” (2009)…
French and French-language Films
Jean Cocteau, “Orpheus / Orphée” (1950) Intriguing re-telling of the famous ancient Greek legend set in post-WW2 Paris, this film combines surrealism, fantasy, situation comedy or…
Torstein Grude, “Satan Rides the Media” / “Satan rir media” (1998) Focussing on the sensational murder of Norwegian black metal musician Oystein Aarseth aka Euronymous by…
Lesley Manning, “Ghostwatch” (1992) Subject of a post on Adam Curtis’s BBC blog, this BBC hoax drama is quite a laugh to watch. Hard to believe…
Sut Jhally and Bathsheba Ratzkoff, “Peace, Propaganda and the Promised Land” (2003) This is a highly informative documentary on the role that the US media plays…
Adam Curtis, “It Felt Like A Kiss” (2009) A quirky visual montage of old newsreels and Hollywood films that documents a culturally transitional age in American…
Dear USE visitors, It’s 2012 already! Those of you who followed the films I saw in 2011 are truly to be congratulated on your patience and interest!…