A personal journal of film and documentary reviews, and reviews of anything else that intrigues me.
Neil Ferguson, “Michael Palin in North Korea (Episode 1)” (2018) At least two years in the making, this 2-part travel documentary follows comedian / world traveller…
Chinese and Chinese-language Films
Wang Liyin, “Forward, Comrades!” (2013) This animated Chinese short, made by a student at the Beijing Film Academy, focuses on the twilight days of the Soviet…
British Films, Eastern European Films
“Abandoned Soviet Fairground Ride in Transnistria” (Bald and Bankrupt, 2019) During his travels in Moldova in early 2019, the English vlogger known as Bald and Bankrupt…
Michael Engler, “The Chaperone” (2018) A film of self-discovery and self-transformation leading to personal freedom, “The Chaperone” is a fictional account of real-life silent movie icon…
Andrea Jaurrieta, “Ana by Day / Ana de Dia” (2017) You feel vaguely dissatisfied with and trapped by your life as a lawyer studying for a…
Michael Chaves , “The Curse of La Llorona” (2019) As his full-length movie directorial debut, this horror flick perhaps shows all the faults as well as…
British Films, Eastern European Films
“Abandoned Europe / Road to Ratus” (Bald and Bankrupt, April 2019) “Could be awesome, could be shit” … well, going to Ratus couldn’t be any worse…
British Films, Eastern European Films
“Nobody Visits This Country … Find Out Why” (Bald and Bankrupt, April 2019) Bald and Bankrupt is the nom de plume of an English traveller who…
German and German-language Films
Sarah Vianney, “Botswana’s Heavy Metal Queens” (2018) Despite the title, the heavy metal queens of Botswana featured in this Deutsche Welle documentary aren’t musicians and there’s…
British Films, French and French-language Films
Rupert Everett, “The Happy Prince” (2018) A labour of love, of much research over the years on the life and work of Irish-British writer Oscar Wilde,…