Cabaret: fine performances undermined by weak plot and underdeveloped themes
Bob Fosse, “Cabaret” (1972) Loosely based on a Broadway play and a 1950s film which in turn were based on two novellas by British writer Christopher…
French and French-language Films
Augustine: period drama struggles under weighty issues of psychology, women’s sexuality and misogyny
Alice Winocour, “Augustine” (2012) In the early years of the twentieth century in France, the ambitious Professor Charcot (Vincent Lindon) runs a hospital for female patients…
Sun, Sea & Satan: highly impassioned and uncompromising film exposing child abuse, political corruption and an unhealthy society
Bill Maloney, “Sun, Sea & Satan” (2008) A highly impassioned film on child abuse in a care home in Jersey, one of the Channel Islands in…
Night Fishing: delving into the world of Korean shamanism and spirituality with an Apple iPhone 4
Park Chan-kyong, Park Chan-wook, “Night Fishing / Paranmanjang” (2011) Filmed using an Apple iPhone4, this fantasy-horror film delves into the little understood world of Korean shamanism…
Masters of Money (Episode 3:Marx): failing to challenge and question important economic and political issues
Will Yearsley, “Masters of Money (Episode 3:Marx)” (2012) The third and final episode of this rather so-so series on significant economist / philosophers who influenced 20th…
More to tiny houses than size in “Beyond Curb Appeal: Jay Shafer and the Politics of Tiny Houses”
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…
Casablanca: redemption is found in romantic war drama set in a sea of spies, intrigue, deception, rebels and fugitives
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…
Masters of Money (Episode 2: Hayek): a breathless race through the life and work of a defender of classical economics
Tristan Quinn, “Masters of Money (Episode 2: Hayek)” (2012) Using a mix of interviews with former politicians, economists and academics together with a voice-over narrative by…
The Day the Earth stood Still: strong and relevant theme and message still important to modern audiences
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…
Matrix Revolutions: beneath pyrotechnics and stylistic posturing, a really very ordinary film stuck in a Hollywood matrix
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…