A personal journal of film and documentary reviews, and reviews of anything else that intrigues me.
Australian and New Zealand Films
Eva Orner, “Chasing Asylum” (2016) Finding information about Australia’s treatment of asylum seekers kept in its detention centres on Manus Island (Papua New Guinea) and Nauru,…
Sergei Eisenstein, “Battleship Potemkin” (1925) Although this film was made over 90 years ago and is a silent black-and-white work, it still stands up well against…
British Films, North American Films
Nicholas Roeg, “The Man Who Fell to Earth” (1976) For a film with hardly much plot and maybe too much soft-core pornography, “The Man who Fell…
Australian and New Zealand Films
Richard Flanagan, “The Sound of One Hand Clapping” (1998) If there’s any value to this film at all, it is as an object lesson in how not…
Hayao Miyazaki, “Spirited Away” (2001) In many ways, “Spirited Away” represents the peak of Studio Ghibli’s creativity and innovation, and the beginning of its decline as a creator…
French and French-language Films
Xavier Giannoli, “Marguerite” (2015) The inspiration for this film may have been the American socialite and amateur opera soprano Florence Foster Jenkins who was notorious for…
Italian and Italian-language Films
Pier Paolo Pasolini, “The Hawks and the Sparrows / Uccellacci e Uccellini” (1966) A bit confusing and rambling, this road movie about a father and his…
Duncan Jones, “Whistle” (2002) “Moon” director Duncan Jones’ first feature is a 29-minute short that initially looks bland and banal, and moves slowly in its first…
Duncan Jones, “Moon” (2009) Like father, like son, no? … decades ago David Bowie sang songs of doomed astronaut Major Tom and in 2009 son Duncan…
Michael Armstrong, “The Image” (1967) Notable mainly for being singer and sometime actor David Bowie’ first film role, this 14-minute horror short is an eerie surrealist…