British Films, North American Films
Live and Let Die: as it says, live and let this film die
Guy Hamilton, “Live and Let Die” (1973) Cashing in on the blaxploitation film genre that was popular in the early 1970s, this instalment in the James…
British Films
Reviews of films from the United Kingdom (England, Northern Ireland, Scotland, Wales).
You Only Live Twice: tired and formulaic film shouldn’t have lived even once
Lewis Gilbert, “You Only Live Twice” (1967) By the time this, the fifth film in the James Bond spy movie franchise, came along for the blockbuster…
British Films, North American Films
Goldfinger: enjoyable escapist spy-thriller fantasy of its time
Guy Hamilton, “Goldfinger” (1964) Third in the series of James Bond spy film series, “Goldfinger” remains the standard to which all other films in the series…
A litany of blunders and oversights in “Deepwater Horizon: Ten Mistakes”
Jess Reid, “Deepwater Horizon: Ten Mistakes” (2021) An investigation into the causes of the Deepwater Horizon oil rig explosion in the Gulf of Mexico near the…
On the Need for a Programme (A Communist Manifesto: The Classic for Today): a vision and path for capitalist societies towards Communism
Paul Cockshott, “On the Need for a Programme (A Communist Manifesto: The Classic for Today)” (25 June 2021) In response to a request, UK computer scientist…
AUKUS and the danger of war: a persuasive if simplistic argument on the stupidity of the AUKUS pact
Paul Cockshott, “AUKUS and the danger of war” (23 September 2021) After a Twitter exchange on whether the US was in a fit state militarily to…
The litany of lies, cover-ups, blunders and shortcuts that led to two air crash tragedies in “737 MAX: Ten Mistakes”
Nick Gillan-Smith, “737 MAX: Ten Mistakes” (2021) A crisp and succinct documentary, going into just enough detail (but not too much so) to satisfy the general…
British Films, French and French-language Films
The Father: a good if generic character study of the impact of dementia on its victims and their families
Florian Zeller, “The Father” (2020) Detailing an elderly father’s deterioration from dementia, and the effects his condition has on the people around him, this film adopts…
British Films, North American Films
The Courier: a film of personal growth and suffering and of friendship transcending politics and ideology
Dominic Cooke, “The Courier” (2020) The story of Greville Wynne, a most unlikely character ever to become a spy for MI6 during the Cold War in…
CTRL Z: gentle romantic time-travel comedy with a sting in its tail
James Kennedy, “CTRL Z” (2017) Cats may have nine lives but the characters in this very funny sci-fi romantic comedy end up having nearly 4,800 lives…