A personal journal of film and documentary reviews, and reviews of anything else that intrigues me.
North American Films, Northern European Films
Lars von Trier, “Manderlay” (2005) The sequel to “Dogville” is an interesting philosophical if rather slower and less action-packed inquiry on the nature of freedom and democracy…
British Films, West African Films
Biyi Bandele, “Half of a Yellow Sun” (2013) Adapted from the eponymous novel, written by Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie, by playwright / director Biyi Bandele, this film…
British Films, Multi-media Presentations
Ivan McKee / Business for Scotland, “Economic Case for an Independent Scotland (Part 2)” (The Glad Cafe, Shawlands, Glasgow, 26th Nov 2013) In the run-up to…
Jonathan Mostow, “Surrogates” (2009) “Surrogates” has an interesting sci-fi concept with potential for philosophical speculation about the nature of being and reality in the style of…
British Films, Russian and Soviet Films
George Galloway and Gayatri Pertiwi, “Sputnik: Orbiting the World with George Galloway (Episode 17)” (RT.com, 8 March 2014) I haven’t been following this weekly series of…
Australian and New Zealand Films, Southeast Asian Films
Bety Reis and Luigi Acquisto, “A Guerra da Beatriz / Beatriz’s War” (2013) A major first in the post-independence culture of Timor-Leste, “Beatriz’s War” is a…
Latin American Films (Spanish language)
Fabián Bielinsky, “El Aura / The Aura” (2005) While promoting this film, Fabián Bielinsky died from a heart attack so “El Aura” and “Nueve Reinas / Nine Queens”,…
French and French-language Films
Roman Polanski, “Frantic” (1988) For a film proclaiming itself “Frantic”, this suspense thriller is surprisingly cool, calm and collected as it follows its hapless protagonist doctor…
Hayao Miyazaki, “The Wind Rises / Kaze tachinu” (2013) Miyazaki’s swansong film is a fictional biography of aeroplane designer and engineer Jiro Horikoshi, creator of the…
Alfred Hitchcock, “Topaz” (1969) Coming towards the tail-end of a long and illustrious career in film direction, this Cold War spy thriller is one of two…