Let the Right One In: first, the Swedish version is allowed in
Tomas Alfredsson, “Let the Right One In” (2008) Often when a novel is translated to the screen, the result is a superficial imitation of the printed word:…
Eyes Wide Shut: style wins over substance
Stanley Kubrick, “Eyes Wide Shut”, (1999) I saw this movie ten years ago as there’d been a lot of hype about it featuring Tom Cruise and Nicole…
Miss Mend, Part One: silent film is a real blast from the Soviet past
Boris Barnet and Fyodor Otsep, “Miss Mend, Part One”, (1926) I saw this film together with “The Cabinet of Doctor Caligari” at the Australia’s Silent…
Splice: spliced-together movie unravelling at the joins
Vincenzo Natali, “Splice”, Dark Castle Entertainment (2010) Fans of former Oscar Best Actor winner Adrien Brody must be wondering how their man came to be slumming it…
German and German-language Films
Inside the Cabinet of famous German Expressionist film
Robert Wiene, “The Cabinet of Doctor Caligari” (1920) Seeing this German Expressionist silent film classic at the Australia’s Silent Film Festival showing in Sydney recently…
The Hunger: glossy and glamorous but in need of a remake anyway
Tony Scott, “The Hunger” (1983) One of a number of 1980s-made movies in the remake production line, this glossy flick was Tony Scott’s directorial debut about…
Blowup: blown up out of proportion to actual charms
Michelangelo Antonioni, “Blowup”, Metro Goldwyn Mayer (1966) I’d been warned by a friend that this movie was over-rated, and possibly “Blowup” is famous among a lot…
French and French-language Films
Alphaville: Lemme caution you, it’s a sci-fi flick like no other
Jean-Luc Godard, “Alphaville”, Athos Films (1965) On the surface “Alphaville” is just one of many episodes in the career of stereotypical hard-boiled trenchcoat-suited detective Lemmy Caution (Eddie Constantine). Caution’s immediate mission is…
Inception: overhyped film remains in dream limbo
Christopher Nolan, “Inception” (2010) I found this film disappointing despite the ingenious combination of science fiction with the conventions of an action heist film, based on the…
The Runaways: Cherie Bomb turns out to be a fizzler
This homage to the 1970s all-female hard rock band The Runaways (Floria Sigismondi, The Runaways, Apparition / Sony Pictures Entertainment 2010) had a lot of advance…