A personal journal of film and documentary reviews, and reviews of anything else that intrigues me.
Robert Bolano, “Nazi Literature in the Americas” (translated from the Spanish by Chris Andrews), Picador, ISBN 978-0-330-51388-3 (2010) You might have feared that an alarmingly titled…
French and French-language Films
Andre Techine, “La fille du RER (The Girl on the Train)”, Strand Releasing (2009) Not a bad drama but I couldn’t quite see the point of…
French and French-language Films
Jacques Tati, “Playtime”, Madman Cinema / The AV Channel, DVD (1967) Source: www.lauradors.com Said to have been the most expensive movie made in…
French and French-language Films
Luis Buñuel, “Belle de Jour” (1967) It’s got a trashy premise – a rich doctor’s wife “plays” at being a prostitute for a few hours each…
Matt Reeves, “Let Me In”, Hammer Films / Overture Films (2010) Once upon a time about 25 years ago in a small town somewhere in Reagan-era America, there was…
Rodrigo Cortes, “Buried” (2010) For a one-trick pony in which the trick is one man stuck in a wooden box buried 2 metres underground, this is…
Kenzo Mizoguchi, “The Life of Oharu”, Shintoho (1952) This is an excellent film about a depressing subject: I only wish colour film had been available to…
Bong Joonho, “Mother” (2008) There aren’t many good movies these days where the central character is a middle-aged woman. Of course she’s a mother – most…
Im Sang-soo “The Housemaid” (2010) How do you remake an old film regarded as a classic and made by a director who’s not only influenced you…
Roman Polanski, “Rosemary’s Baby” (1968) Who doesn’t envy young couples these days who dream of having a nice 3-bedroom house or apartment in the city close to…