Pony: a dark little story about the loss of innocence in a banal setting
Dony Permedi, “Pony” (2006) “Pony” is a short animated film made by Permedi as an undergraduate college project with the subversions of everyday life and student…
nausika
Italian and Italian-language Films
God Willing: a brisk slapstick comedy opposing self-complacency and arrogance against humility and faith
Edoardo Maria Falcone, “God Willing / Se Dio Vuole” (2015) A gentle slapstick comedy, Falcone’s “Se Dio Vuole” won its director top directing honours in Italy’s…
New York, New York: a homage to and a subversion of Hollywood / Broadway glamour, fame and artifice
Martin Scorsese, “New York, New York” (1977) One of Martin Scorsese’s most under-rated films, in my opinion, and in many ways an experimental and even surreal…
Modern Times: sympathy for the underdog and horror at a machine society enforcing conformity and repression
Charlie Chaplin, “Modern Times” (1936) In its own way, “Modern Times” is significant as an example of how one actor / director adapted his style from…
Freaks: a sympathetic work that pleads on behalf of its performers and turns normality on its head
Todd Browning, “Freaks” (1932) A unique cult film of the kind that can be said to be the only film of its genre – outsider film,…
Australian and New Zealand Films
Chasing Asylum: an urgent film detailing the inhumanity and idiocy of Australian incarceration of refugees in overseas detention centres
Eva Orner, “Chasing Asylum” (2016) Finding information about Australia’s treatment of asylum seekers kept in its detention centres on Manus Island (Papua New Guinea) and Nauru,…
Battleship Potemkin: a classic of drama, passion and the power of people to overturn injustice and oppression
Sergei Eisenstein, “Battleship Potemkin” (1925) Although this film was made over 90 years ago and is a silent black-and-white work, it still stands up well against…
British Films, North American Films
The Man Who Fell to Earth: a satire on US cut-throat capitalist society and how it alienates, controls and dehumanises people
Nicholas Roeg, “The Man Who Fell to Earth” (1976) For a film with hardly much plot and maybe too much soft-core pornography, “The Man who Fell…
Australian and New Zealand Films
The Sound of One Hand Clapping: retreating into blandness and relying on stereotypes and a banal plot-line
Richard Flanagan, “The Sound of One Hand Clapping” (1998) If there’s any value to this film at all, it is as an object lesson in how not…
Spirited Away: a lavish film representing the peak of Studio Ghibli’s creativity and the start of its decline
Hayao Miyazaki, “Spirited Away” (2001) In many ways, “Spirited Away” represents the peak of Studio Ghibli’s creativity and innovation, and the beginning of its decline as a creator…