A personal journal of film and documentary reviews, and reviews of anything else that intrigues me.
Reviews of films from the United Kingdom (England, Northern Ireland, Scotland, Wales).
British Films, North American Films
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…
Duncan Jones, “Whistle” (2002) “Moon” director Duncan Jones’ first feature is a 29-minute short that initially looks bland and banal, and moves slowly in its first…
Michael Armstrong, “The Image” (1967) Notable mainly for being singer and sometime actor David Bowie’ first film role, this 14-minute horror short is an eerie surrealist…
Christian Davies, “David Bowie Under Review 1976 – 1979: The Berlin Trilogy” (2006) David Bowie’s death in early January 2016 left behind a considerable artistic legacy…
Sarah Gavron, “Suffragette” (2015) Of the recent plethora of British historical drama movies, Gavron’s film “Suffragette” is one flick that tries to be two things to…
British Films, East African Films
Fernando Meirelles, “The Constant Gardener” (2005) Based on the novel of the same name by John le Carré, this film combines elements of the spy thriller…
British Films, Russian and Soviet Films
George Galloway and Gayatri Pertiwi, “Sputnik: Orbiting the World with George Galloway (Episode 86)” (RT.com, August 2015) Perhaps the best thing that former UK Labour Party leader…
Andrew Lachman, “Michael Mosley: The Truth About Meat” (2014) Second in a series of documentaries hosted and narrated by BBC science presenter Michael Mosley, this episode…
Alex Garland, “Ex_Machina” (2015) At first glance, Alex Garland’s directorial debut flim “Ex Machina” looks like the total triumph of style over substance but like its…
British Films, French and French-language Films
Roman Polanski, “Tess” (1979) Closely based on the original Thomas Hardy novel “Tess of the d’Urbervilles”, which serves as an indictment of Christian religious hypocrisy, male…