A personal journal of film and documentary reviews, and reviews of anything else that intrigues me.
Ikuo Oishi, “Ugokie kori no tatehiki” (1933) Japanese animators in the 1930s sure loved the Max Fleischer style of animation and Ikuo Oishi was no different:…
British Films, French and French-language Films
Florian Zeller, “The Father” (2020) Detailing an elderly father’s deterioration from dementia, and the effects his condition has on the people around him, this film adopts…
Yoshitsugu Tanaka, “Entotsuya Peroo” (1930) Known also as “Chimney Sweep Peroo”, this unusual animated film made in 1930 relies on silhouette or shadow animation to tell…
Yuichi Kondo, “Ryoko’S Qubit Summer” (2018) Here is a sweet film about an unusual love affair between an AI researcher and an AI creation. In the…
Yoshitaro Kataoka, “Danemon’s Monster Hunt at Shojoji / Shojoji no tanuki-bayashi Dan Dan’emon” (1935) While looking for something else on Youtube, I found this uncaptioned short…
Chinese and Chinese-language Films
“The War in the Shadows: Challenges of Fighting Terrorism in Xinjiang” (China Global Television Network, 2021) Part of a series of documentaries produced by China Global…
British Films, North American Films
Dominic Cooke, “The Courier” (2020) The story of Greville Wynne, a most unlikely character ever to become a spy for MI6 during the Cold War in…
Carlton Meyer, “Conquering the Middle East” (Tales of the American Empire, 2 April 2021) This episode in Carlton Meyer’s long-running “Tales of the American Empire” series…
James Kennedy, “CTRL Z” (2017) Cats may have nine lives but the characters in this very funny sci-fi romantic comedy end up having nearly 4,800 lives…
Sandun Seneviratne, Charlie Bray, “Vikaari” (2020) Cunningly disguised as a TV current affairs article / mini-documentary, complete with different styles of filming including videotaping, this short…