A personal journal of film and documentary reviews, and reviews of anything else that intrigues me.
Kim Jiwoon, “The Good, the Bad, the Weird” (2010) An affectionate homage to Sergio Leone’s spaghetti / paella Westerns of the 1960’s, this Korean riff on…
Marc Forster, “The Kite Runner” (2006) Based on a best-selling novel by Afghan writer Khaled Hosseini, this is a picturesque film of childhood friendship that for…
Alfred Hitchcock, “Rear Window” (1954) From the days when Hollywood occasionally made films that featured rich sub-text and challenged audiences to question their role as viewers comes this…
Latin American Films (Spanish language)
Guillermo del Toro, “Pan’s Labyrinth” (2006) This is an excellent film that successfully combines dark fantasy and horror with historical drama set in fascist-ruled Spain in…
Abbas Kiarostami, “Taste of Cherry” (1997) Source: www.thefilmpilgrim.com On the surface this looks like a very minimalist, in parts improvised film about a man contemplating suicide…
German and German-language Films
Werner Herzog, “Fitzcarraldo” (1982) For all the off-screen controversies and shenanigans that bedevilled the making of this film, “Fitzcarraldo” turns out to be a decent enough…
German and German-language Films
Werner Herzog, “Aguirre, Wrath of God” (1972) A dramatic fictional rendition of the 1560 expedition of the Spanish conquistador Pedro de Ursua down the Maranon and…
Alejandro Amenabar, “Agora” (2010) This Spanish production presents a fictional account of the final years and death of the Greek female scientist / mathematician / philosopher…
German and German-language Films
Werner Herzog, “Heart of Glass” (1976) An 18th-century tale of a town dependent on its glass factory becomes a metaphor for the downfall of German and…
German and German-language Films
Wim Wenders, “Wings of Desire” (1987) A romantic fantasy about an angel who yearns to be human becomes a meditation on the nature of physical being…