A personal journal of film and documentary reviews, and reviews of anything else that intrigues me.
Australian and New Zealand Films
Andrew Ruhemann and Shaun Tan, “The Lost Thing” Adapted from co-director Shaun Tan’s picture book written for children, the beguiling “The Lost Thing” seems a very…
Hideaki Anno, Masayuki, Kazuya Tsurumaki, “Evangelion: 1.11 – You Are (Not) Alone” Since the original “Neon Genesis Evangelion” anime series aired on TV over two decades…
Middle Eastern Films, Northern European Films
Floor van der Meulen, Thomas Vroege, Issa Touma, “9 Days – From My Window in Aleppo” (2016) Filmed over nine days (hence the title) in August…
Nagisa Oshima, “Ai no korida / In the Realm of the Senses” (1976) Forty years ago this film was made and it still has the power…
Thomas Vinterberg, “Festen” (1998) “Festen” remains the best-known and most mainstream of the various films made under Dogme 95 movement rules. Even if audiences no longer…
John Lee Hancock, “The Founder” (2016) How do you make an engrossing film about a character who is essentially unlikeable, a predator who steals others’ ideas…
Noboru Iguchi, “Dead Sushi” (2012) In the tradition of wacky Japanese comedy horror flicks comes this little number that takes a bizarre concept (bloodthirsty monster sushi)…
Kenji Mizoguchi, “Ugetsu” (1953) Two interwined morality plays about peasants blinded by thoughts of personal fame and glory are the basis for an exploration of love,…
Stanley Kubrick, “The Shining” (1980) In most directors’ hands, a Stephen King horror novel of a family disintegrating under the impact of the husband / father’s…
German and German-language Films
Tommy Tykwer, “Lola rennt / Run Lola Run” (1998) A mundane plot set in Berlin about a young couple who have to replace a stash of…