A personal journal of film and documentary reviews, and reviews of anything else that intrigues me.
Anthony DiMieri, “America in denial: Gabor Maté on the psychology of Russiagate” (The Grayzone Project, May 2019) For two years from the time Donald Trump won…
Rhys Thomas, “The Great Pretender” (2012) The public fascination with the shy Parsi Indian boy born in a British colonial backwater in Zanzibar in 1946, who…
Mike Leigh, “Peterloo” (2018) Made just before the 200th anniversary of the Peterloo Massacre in Manchester in August 1819, when British cavalry troops and foot soldiers…
Neil Ferguson, “Michael Palin in North Korea (Episode 2)” (2018) In this second and final episode, Michael Palin ventures outside Pyongyang to spend a few days…
Neil Ferguson, “Michael Palin in North Korea (Episode 1)” (2018) At least two years in the making, this 2-part travel documentary follows comedian / world traveller…
Chinese and Chinese-language Films
Wang Liyin, “Forward, Comrades!” (2013) This animated Chinese short, made by a student at the Beijing Film Academy, focuses on the twilight days of the Soviet…
British Films, Eastern European Films
“Abandoned Soviet Fairground Ride in Transnistria” (Bald and Bankrupt, 2019) During his travels in Moldova in early 2019, the English vlogger known as Bald and Bankrupt…
Michael Engler, “The Chaperone” (2018) A film of self-discovery and self-transformation leading to personal freedom, “The Chaperone” is a fictional account of real-life silent movie icon…
Andrea Jaurrieta, “Ana by Day / Ana de Dia” (2017) You feel vaguely dissatisfied with and trapped by your life as a lawyer studying for a…
Michael Chaves , “The Curse of La Llorona” (2019) As his full-length movie directorial debut, this horror flick perhaps shows all the faults as well as…