A personal journal of film and documentary reviews, and reviews of anything else that intrigues me.
Katerina Kitidi and Aris Hatzistefanou, “Debtocracy” (2011) Made on the cheap, this is a passionate and compelling documentary about the current Greek financial crisis, how it…
Adam Curtis, “All Watched Over by Machines of Loving Grace (Episode 3: The Monkey in the Machine and the Machine in the Monkey)” (2011) Final installation…
Todd Haynes, “Superstar: the Karen Carpenter Story” (1987) Using Barbie and Ken dolls to play the main characters in miniature sets specially made for this film…
French and French-language Films
Roman Polanski, “The Tenant” / “Le Locataire” (1976) A very good psychological study of a young man, bullied by others and trying to make his way in a…
Australian and New Zealand Films
Anthony Lucas, “The Mysterious Geographic Explorations of Jasper Morello” (2004) A nominee for a Best Animated Short Film Oscar in 2006, this is a visually beautiful…
Adam Curtis, “All Watched Over by Machines of Loving Grace (Episode 2: The Uses and Abuses of Vegetational Concepts)” (2011) Second episode in his documentary trilogy…
Tad Lumpkin and Harold Uhl / The Provocateur Network “The American Dream” (2010?) This is a well-made animated documentary that tries to explain how the American people…
D I Yashin, “Experiments in the Revival of Organisms” (1940) A curious short documentary from 1940 about a series of experiments on reviving dead or inanimate…
Alix Lambert, “The Mark of Caïn” (2000) Ostensibly a film about the declining custom of tattooing in Russian prisons, its history and how it serves as…
Alfred Hitchcock, “Young and Innocent” (1938) A plucky teenage girl aids a young man on the run from bumbling police who suspect him of murder by…