A personal journal of film and documentary reviews, and reviews of anything else that intrigues me.
Australian and New Zealand Films
Kelrick Martin, “Prison Songs” (2015) Billed as Australia’s first musical documentary, and probably the first of its kind to be set in a prison, “Prison Songs” is…
Dony Permedi, “Pony” (2006) “Pony” is a short animated film made by Permedi as an undergraduate college project with the subversions of everyday life and student…
Italian and Italian-language Films
Edoardo Maria Falcone, “God Willing / Se Dio Vuole” (2015) A gentle slapstick comedy, Falcone’s “Se Dio Vuole” won its director top directing honours in Italy’s…
Martin Scorsese, “New York, New York” (1977) One of Martin Scorsese’s most under-rated films, in my opinion, and in many ways an experimental and even surreal…
Charlie Chaplin, “Modern Times” (1936) In its own way, “Modern Times” is significant as an example of how one actor / director adapted his style from…
Todd Browning, “Freaks” (1932) A unique cult film of the kind that can be said to be the only film of its genre – outsider film,…
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…