A personal journal of film and documentary reviews, and reviews of anything else that intrigues me.
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)…
Andrew Lachman, “Michael Mosley: The Truth About Meat” (2014) Second in a series of documentaries hosted and narrated by BBC science presenter Michael Mosley, this episode…
Ingmar Bergman, “The Virgin Spring / Jungfrukällan” (1960) Perhaps not so celebrated as “The Seventh Seal”, this morality tale on the nature of humanity, the remoteness…
Alex Garland, “Ex_Machina” (2015) At first glance, Alex Garland’s directorial debut flim “Ex Machina” looks like the total triumph of style over substance but like its…
German and German-language Films
Fritz Lang, “Metropolis (reconstructed + restored)” (1928) I’ve had the opportunity to see “Metropolis” (which I reviewed some years ago) again in its reconstructed and restored…
Multi-media Presentations, Russian and Soviet Films
Kirill Kleymenov and Maria Sittel, “Direct Line with Vladimir Putin” (RT.com, 16 April 2015) Every year since he has been President of Russia, and also when…
British Films, French and French-language Films
Roman Polanski, “Tess” (1979) Closely based on the original Thomas Hardy novel “Tess of the d’Urbervilles”, which serves as an indictment of Christian religious hypocrisy, male…
German and German-language Films, North American Films
Wim Wenders, “Paris, Texas” (1984) One of American cinema’s finest yet under-appreciated treasures must surely be the unassuming actor Harry Dean Stanton whose acting career reached…
Alex Gibney, “Enron: The Smartest Guys in the Room” (2005) A bit gimmicky in parts, especially in its transitions, but overall this documentary on the biggest…