A personal journal of film and documentary reviews, and reviews of anything else that intrigues me.
Australian and New Zealand Films
Rolf de Heer, “The Tracker” (2002) On the surface, a simple story of four men hunting a fugitive who has committed a crime, “The Tracker” is…
John Cameron Mitchell, “Hedwig and the Angry Inch” (2001) A feisty little number showcasing John Cameron Mitchell as a director, actor, scriptwriter and singer, “Hedwig and…
Peter Greenaway, “The Cook, the Thief, his Wife and her Lover” (1989) Straight away viewers can tell there’s much more simmering away in this story about a…
Alfred Hitchcock, “Torn Curtain” (1966) To properly appreciate how good a director Alfred Hitchcock was over a career of 50+ years, one needs to see the…
Australian and New Zealand Films
Gillian Armstrong, “Women He’s Undressed” (2015) Hollywood could not have dreamt up a more classic story of the country boy who finds his home town and…
Akira Kurosawa, “High and Low” (1963) Most movies based on pulp crime / police procedural novels rarely exceed their pulpy inspirations but legendary Japanese director Akira…
French and French-language Films
Luis Buñuel, “That Obscure Object of Desire” (1977) Between two full buckets of cold water that the main characters dump on each other unfolds (for the…
Review of Films I’ve seen in 2016 Dear Under Southern Eyes Readers, Another year gone and another round-up of the most interesting films seen in 2016!…
Australian and New Zealand Films
Andrew Ruhemann and Shaun Tan, “The Lost Thing” Adapted from co-director Shaun Tan’s picture book written for children, the beguiling “The Lost Thing” seems a very…
Hideaki Anno, Masayuki, Kazuya Tsurumaki, “Evangelion: 1.11 – You Are (Not) Alone” Since the original “Neon Genesis Evangelion” anime series aired on TV over two decades…