A personal journal of film and documentary reviews, and reviews of anything else that intrigues me.
Charlie Deaux, “Zoetrope” (1999) Based on my favourite Franz Kafka short story “In the Penal Colony”, this is a stunning-looking short piece about a man’s last…
Lars von Trier, “Medea” (1988) Originally made for TV and with a script based on that other famous Danish director Carl Theodor Dreyer’s adaptation of Euripides’s play “Medea”, this…
Robinson Devor, “Zoo” (2007) Based on the case of a Boeing employee who died from a perforated colon while being anally penetrated by a horse in…
Italian and Italian-language Films
Pier Paolo Pasolini, “Salò or the 120 days of Sodom” / “Salò o le 120 giornate di Sodoma” (1975) Grim and harrowing to watch but an…
Italian and Italian-language Films
Pier Paolo Pasolini, “Medea” (1969) This film will always be a personal favourite of mine for its exploration of a human society and the kind of woman…
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…