A personal journal of film and documentary reviews, and reviews of anything else that intrigues me.
Oleg Uzhinov, “Masha and the Bear (Season 1, Episode 17: Recipe for Disaster)” (2009) Despite its title, this charming little short turned out to be the…
Chinese and Chinese-language Films
Te Wei, “Feelings of Mountain and Water” (1988) Inspired by the traditional Chinese shanshui genre of landscape painting – “shanshui” means “mountain – water” – in…
Andrei Tarkovsky, “Zerkalo / The Mirror” (1975) For most viewers, Tarkovsky’s “The Mirror” won’t be the easiest film to follow: the narrative follows a stream-of-consciousness structure…
Latin American Films (non-Spanish / non-Portuguese), North American Films
Masaman, “Paraguayans: World’s Weirdest Latinos” (2018) In an entertaining short film of just under 13 minutes, viewers are treated to a fascinating survey of one of…
Australian and New Zealand Films
Denise Brailey, “Bank Mortgage Fraud Explained” (Citizens Electoral Council, September 2018) Denise Brailey of the Banking and Finance Consumers Support Association (BFCSA) gave a presentation to…
Italian and Italian-language Films
Paolo Sorrentino, “Loro / Them” (2018) Originally made in two parts totalling three hours, this fictional drama about Italian media magnate and former prime minister Silvio…
British Films, Multi-media Presentations
Ben Griffin, “The Making of a Modern British Soldier” (Veterans for Peace UK, October 2015) All you see in this video uploaded to Youtube is a…
Dear Under Southern Eyes Readers and Followers, So 2019 is already upon us – which means a Round-up of the films that I believe are significant for viewers is in order! I certainly saw far more films in 2018 than I did in 2017 – perhaps I saw more…
Adam McKay, “Vice” (2018) A rather patchy satirical study of the life of former US Vice-President Dick Cheney, “Vice” shows how an unscrupulous individual can attain…
Latin American Films (Spanish language)
Alfonso Cuaron, “Roma” (2018) Conceived as a homage and dedicated to his birth family’s housemaid and nanny Libo, Mexican director Alfonso Cuaron’s “Roma” brings together a…