A personal journal of film and documentary reviews, and reviews of anything else that intrigues me.
Grimur Hakonarson, “Rams / Hrutar” (2015 Forty years ago, a family rift led to two brothers in an Icelandic sheep-farming family going their separate ways, splitting…
Chinese and Chinese-language Films
Wu Yonggang, “The Goddess / Shen nu” (1935) A year after this film was made, its star Ruan Lingyu took her life by overdosing on barbiturates,…
“Chechnya: Republic of Contrasts” (RT Channel, 2013) Made in 2013, this RT documentary is probably due for an update but it remains an interesting introduction to…
Australian and New Zealand Films, Russian and Soviet Films
Pavel Serezhkin, “The Hooligans: Joining the Kremlin’s Football Army” (2018) Here’s a very funny mockumentary that pokes fun at Western (and in particular British) news media…
Rick Morales, “Batman vs. Two-Face” (2017) Adam West’s final outing as Batman before his death in June 2017 brings him face to face (or face to…
Rick Morales, “Batman: Return of the Caped Crusaders” (2016) The series of Batman films by Tim Burton and Joel Schumacher in the 1990s and by Christopher…
Australian and New Zealand Films
Karina Holden, “Blue” (2017) Instead of bashing its audiences over the head with facts ‘n’ figures about the impact of human activities on oceans and marine…
Celso R Garcia, “Origins: The Journey of Humankind (Season 1, Episode 3: The Power of Money)” (2017) One viewing of this episode of the National Geographic…
Eastern European Films, German and German-language Films
Nick Baker-Monteys, “The Final Journey / Leanders Letzte Reise” (2017) The plot may be a familiar one – aged pensioner Eduard Leander (Jurgen Prochnow), recently widowed,…
French and French-language Films
Luis Bunuel, “Diary of a Chambermaid” (1964) Of the Spanish director’s late-autumn career in which he directed classics like “Belle de Jour”, “The Discreet Charm of…