A personal journal of film and documentary reviews, and reviews of anything else that intrigues me.
Reviews of films made in Canada and United States including all films made by Hollywood.
George Packard, “Beyond Curb Appeal: Jay Shafer and the Politics of Tiny Houses” (2011) While cruising the Internet (as you do), I found this little film…
Michael Curtiz, “Casablanca” (1942) One of Hollywood’s finest gems, “Casablanca” initially presents as a romantic drama in the middle of war. It’s 1942, France is ruled…
Robert Wise, “The Day the Earth stood Still” (1951) Yesterday a meteor and its debris struck an area in the Urals in Russia and the planet…
Andy and Larry Wachowski, “Matrix Revolutions” (2003) Beneath layers of computer-generated pyrotechnics, film noir homage and stylistic posing, the story is fairly basic: it’s a celebration…
Leif Kaldor, “Remote Control War” (2011) “Remote Control War” presents as a sober documentary on the use of robotics in war, conflict and espionage in the…
Kathryn Bigelow, “Zero Dark Thirty” (2012) This film purports to document the hunt for World Public Enemy No 1, the Saudi national Osama bin Laden, and…
Prairie Public Television, “The Bank of North Dakota” (2005) In an age in which large private banks have a stranglehold over governments and economies, and by…
Lindsay Harris and Stuart Leach, “Unearthed” (2011) On the edge of the known universe, a mining spacecraft The Ezekiel discovers an uncharted barren planet that may…
German and German-language Films, North American Films
Ryan Nagata, “1945A” (2010) Carl Erik Rinsch, “The Gift” (2010) Kaleb Lechowski, “R-Ha” (2012) These films have a few things in common: they’re very short science…
J Robinson (Noisey / VICE) “One Man Metal” (2012) An interesting if bare-bones three-part documentary, this film looks at three one-man black metal acts: Leviathan, Striborg…