A personal journal of film and documentary reviews, and reviews of anything else that intrigues me.
“Espionage Target – You!” (1964) Commissioned by the United States Department of Defense for training US military and civilian personnel sent abroad, this film is an…
Shane O’Sullivan, “The Real Manchurian Candidate” (e2 films, 2018) Sirhan Bishara Sirhan is notorious as the man who fatally shot Senator Robert F Kennedy, the younger…
“There are TWO Londons & Why It MATTERS” (Black Pigeon Speaks, 2017) Why indeed should we be concerned that not one London but TWO Londons exist?…
Michael Mayer, “The Seagull” (2018) Quite why this film adaptation of the famous play by Anton Chekhov couldn’t have been set in the United States in…
Dan Cohen, “The Syria Deception (Part 1: Al Qaeda Goes to Hollywood)” (2018) This first part of a two-part series is a blunt and uncompromising examination…
Robin Hardy “The Wicker Man” (1973) In spite of a small budget and the set-backs it suffered during filming and the post-production process, this short movie…
Australian and New Zealand Films
Benjamin Gilmour, “Jirga” (2018) The wonder is that this film got made at all as it was filmed in Afghanistan, and in areas possibly still dominated…
Jenan Moussa, “Undercover in Idlib” (2017) Presented and narrated by Jenan Moussa, a reporter for Al Aan TV in Dubai, this 22-minute documentary on the situation…
British Films, North American Films
Sidney Lumet, “Equus” (1977) He never won an individual Academy Award for Best Movie or Best Director but surely Sidney Lumet is one of the greatest…
Michael Oswald, “The Spider’s Web: Britain’s Second Empire” (2017) A very important and necessary documentary, in light of ongoing financial crises in many countries, supposedly necessitating…