A personal journal of film and documentary reviews, and reviews of anything else that intrigues me.
Japanese Films, North American Films
Shinji Aramaki, “Starship Troopers: Traitor of Mars” (2017) Multiplying not quite as fast as the enemy Arachnids did in the original Paul Verhoeven “Starship Troopers” film…
Australian and New Zealand Films
Rolf de Heer and Peter Djigirr, “Ten Canoes” (2006) An engrossing story of another story, “Ten Canoes” acts as both a morality tale and an ingenious…
Goro Miyazaki, “Tales from Earthsea / Gedo senki” (2006) Watching this film, gorgeous as it is visually, I couldn’t help but feel that it’s a classic…
North American Films, Northern European Films
Bjorn Runge, “The Wife” (2017) As films go, “The Wife” is enjoyable mainly for Glenn Close’s understated performance as the title character: for the most part,…
Latin American Films (non-Spanish / non-Portuguese), Middle Eastern Films
Abby Martin, “Empire Files: Israelis Speak Candidly About Palestinians” (October 2017) Abby Martin is an American journalist who hosts an ongoing current affairs show The Empire…
“Nationalized Finance: Russian Direct Investment Fund Focuses on Helping Country Expand and Grow” (Vesti News, 6 August 2018) An interesting and informative news documentary from Vesti…
Dan Gilroy, “Roman J. Israel, Esq.” (2017) Once in a while an intelligent and worthy film comes out of Hollywood that demonstrates someone there still knows…
Graham Phillips, “Salisbury! A Day in Skripal City” (July 2018) In late July, British journalist / film-maker Graham Phillips spent time in Salisbury in southern England…
Korean Films, North American Films
Andre Vltchek, “The Faces of North Korea” (2018) Visually poetic, even soulful to watch, this documentary is a travelogue of the sights and experiences, along with…
Takashi Miike, “Over Your Dead Body” (2014) From the incredibly prolific director Takashi Miike, who never met a film genre he couldn’t make an insanely extreme…