A personal journal of film and documentary reviews, and reviews of anything else that intrigues me.
Australian and New Zealand Films
Bruce Beresford, “The Fringe Dwellers” (1986) Based on the 1961 novel of the same name by Nene Gare, this gentle and minimally made movie is a…
Todd Solondz, “Palindromes” (2004) A dark comedic fairy tale about a girl trapped in a life that goes around in circles, “Palindromes” does have the air…
Alfred Hitchcock, “North by Northwest” (1959) After the intense “Vertigo” which initially wasn’t a great box office success, Hitchcock chose to film a light-hearted chase thriller…
French and French-language Films, Japanese Films
Barbet Schroeder, “Inju, la bête dans l’ombre” (2008) Enjoyably silly movie about a literature academic and aspiring crime fiction writer whose career, night-time as well as…
David Fincher, “Se7en” (1995) “Se7en” is a well-made film with some excellent acting performances and an ingenious if implausible premise of a literate serial killer who…
Aki Kaurismäki, “The Man without a Past” (2002) A heart-warming comedy about a man who is beaten up and left for dead but survives only to…
Song Ilgon, “Spider Forest” (2004) Amusing if eccentric film that straddles a grey zone between art-house drama and psychological horror thriller, “Spider Forest” carries themes about…
Josh Fox, “Gasland” (2010) Written, filmed, narrated and directed by Josh Fox, this documentary is a personal journey investigating the nature and environmental impact of the…
Australian and New Zealand Films
Robert Connolly, “Balibo” (2009) Imaginatively constructed as three stories that initially fit into one another like Russian matryoshka dolls, of which two more or less spread…
Alfred Hitchcock, “Strangers on a Train” (1951) As with many other films made by English-American director Alfred Hitchcock, “Strangers on a Train” plumbs the theme of…