28 Weeks Later: film has more Swiss-cheese holes than the zombies make in their victims
Juan Carlos Fresnadillo, “28 Weeks Later” (2007) On paper it looked like a good idea: a sequel to the original zombies-on-the-run flick “28 Days Later” by…
British Films
Reviews of films from the United Kingdom (England, Northern Ireland, Scotland, Wales).
Sleep Tight My Baby: one take is all it takes for an effective horror short
Pansu Kim, “Sleep Tight My Baby” (2001) Very devastating film about a teenage girl trapped with a baby and quarrelling parents filmed in one continuous take; much…
The Century of the Self (Episode 4: Eight People sipping Wine in Kettering): too much focus on politics, not enough on culture and society
Adam Curtis, “The Century of the Self (Episode 4: Eight People sipping Wine in Kettering)” (2002) Final episode in this 4-part documentary series brings the penetration…
The Century of the Self (Episode 3: There is a Policeman inside all Our Heads – He must be Destroyed): a stroll through an amusement park of curious cultural fads and trends
Adam Curtis, “The Century of the Self (Episode 3: There is a Policeman inside all Our Heads – He must be Destroyed)” (2002) The third installment in Curtis’s…
The Century of the Self (Episode 2: The Engineering of Consent): the use of psychoanalysis as tool for social control
Adam Curtis, “The Century of the Self (Episode 2: The Engineering of Consent)” (2002) This episode continues Curtis’s investigation of the ways in which Freudian psychoanalysis…
Coriolanus: an examination of a simple man and his place in a duplicitous and corrupt society
Ralph Fiennes, “Coriolanus” (2011) When I was 28 years of age, a mysterious Shakespeare-reading frenzy seized me and before I knew what I was doing, I had…
The Century of the Self (Episode 1: Happiness Machines): the rise of consumerism, passivity and other anti-democratic forces
Adam Curtis, “The Century of the Self (Episode 1: Happiness Machines)” (2002) Finally after much nagging by a friend in London, I got around to watching…
Caution, propaganda at work in “Fukushima: Is Nuclear Power Safe?”
Annabel Gillings, “Fukushima: Is Nuclear Power Safe?” (2011) Eminently likeable scientist-presenter Jim al-Khalili goes on a trip to Fukushima – the infamous site where three nuclear reactors suffered…
Tinker, Tailor, Soldier, Spy: potentially great movie struggling under weak sub-text and sketchy plot
Tomas Alfredsson, “Tinker, Tailor, Soldier, Spy” (2011) I’m too young to know the 1979 BBC TV series starring Alec Guinness but general critical consensus is that this movie adaptation…
Ghostwatch: very funny hoax documentary that blurs reality and fiction, and raises issues about authenticity
Lesley Manning, “Ghostwatch” (1992) Subject of a post on Adam Curtis’s BBC blog, this BBC hoax drama is quite a laugh to watch. Hard to believe…