A personal journal of film and documentary reviews, and reviews of anything else that intrigues me.
NewsAsia “Conversation with …” Interview with Sergei Lavrov (2015) For an example of an interviewee displaying grace under fire from a biased interviewer, I direct interested…
Yana Erlashova, Vitaly Biryukov, “MH17: A Year Without the Truth” (RT Documentary, 2014) On 17 July 2014, Malaysian Airlines Flight MH-17, carrying nearly 300 people, was shot…
Latin American Films (Spanish language)
Fabian Bielinsky, “Nine Queens / Nuevas Reinas” (2000) Talented Argentine director Fabian Bielinsky made just two films before his untimely death in 2006 and his first,…
Neil Blomkamp, “District 9” (2009) The inspiration for this science fiction film arises from a context in which racial segregation and exploitation informed the basis for…
Riho Unt and Hardi Volmer, “Sõda” (1987) It has the look of a political satire disguised as an animal fable and I would say that the…
Riho Unt, “Kapsapea / A Cabbage” (1993) A stop-animation parody of action adventure films like the Indiana Jones movie series, “Kapsapea” revolves around the travails of…
John Pilger, “Why the Rise of Fascism is Again the Issue”, JohnPilger.com (26 February 2015) Australia’s conscience comes with a real name: this is John Pilger…
Zachary Maxwell, “Yuck! A 4th Grader’s Short Documentary about School Lunch” (2012) Here comes wisdom from the mouths of babes … in this case, 9-year-old Zachary…
Northern European Films, Southeast Asian Films
Joshua Oppenheimer, “The Look of Silence” (2014) A companion piece to Oppenheimer’s earlier documentary “The Act of Killing”, this film considers the effects of Indonesia’s purges…
Australian and New Zealand Films
Larissa Behrendt, “Under Skin, In Blood” (2015) Ryan Griffen, “You Turn” (2015) Kelrick Martin, “Karroyul” (2015) Tracey Rigney, “Man Real” (2015) Dylan River, “Nulla Nulla” (2015)…