A personal journal of film and documentary reviews, and reviews of anything else that intrigues me.
French and French-language Films
Cedric Klapisch, “Back to Burgundy / Ce qui nous lie” (2017) An otherwise rather ho-hum family melodrama of sibling jealousies featuring some rather obvious narrative cliches…
Makoto Shinkai, “Your Name” (2016) At first this teenage romance drama seems to be just as sappy and sentimental as any other such film – especially…
Samuel Maoz, “Foxtrot” (2017) Divided into three parts, with the first and third parts dominated by the same actors and sharing the same setting (an apartment),…
Alexander Korobko, “NYC to Donetsk & back” (Russian Hour, 2018) Made in 2017 or 2018, or some time after the death of Mikhail Tolstykh aka Givi…
Grimur Hakonarson, “Rams / Hrutar” (2015 Forty years ago, a family rift led to two brothers in an Icelandic sheep-farming family going their separate ways, splitting…
Chinese and Chinese-language Films
Wu Yonggang, “The Goddess / Shen nu” (1935) A year after this film was made, its star Ruan Lingyu took her life by overdosing on barbiturates,…
“Chechnya: Republic of Contrasts” (RT Channel, 2013) Made in 2013, this RT documentary is probably due for an update but it remains an interesting introduction to…
Australian and New Zealand Films, Russian and Soviet Films
Pavel Serezhkin, “The Hooligans: Joining the Kremlin’s Football Army” (2018) Here’s a very funny mockumentary that pokes fun at Western (and in particular British) news media…
Rick Morales, “Batman vs. Two-Face” (2017) Adam West’s final outing as Batman before his death in June 2017 brings him face to face (or face to…
Rick Morales, “Batman: Return of the Caped Crusaders” (2016) The series of Batman films by Tim Burton and Joel Schumacher in the 1990s and by Christopher…