Tengu Taiji: a lively and comical animated folk tale from an early Japanese pioneer
Noburu Ofuji aka Fuyo Koyamano, “Tengu Taiji” (1934) A very comical tale about a town besieged by tengu – dangerous goblin spirits with the characteristics of…
Comedy
Pinki: a modern fairy-tale of self-discovery through memories of old technology
Hyunsuk Kim, “Pinki” (2018) Initially looking like a Korean mash-up of Neil Blomkamp’s “District 9” and “Chappie” with The Transformers film series and Joonho Bong’s “The…
Final Offer: implausible plot made enjoyable by great acting and fast minimal dialogue
Mark Slutsky, “Final Offer” (2018) The premise is the height of implausibility but great acting from Aaron Abrams and Anna Hopkins as protagonist and antagonist lawyers…
Australian and New Zealand Films
All flash and style but little substance in “Occupation: Rainfall”
Luke Sparke, “Occupation: Rainfall” (2020) Here’s a brisk and flashy science fiction action film done on a small budget with plenty of Australian bravado and no…
Tribes: fast, witty lesson on identity politics as tool of control
Nino Aldi, “Tribes” (2020) In societies obsessed with categorising people on the basis of arbitrary and artificial criteria such as race and gender self-identity, this short…
Italian and Italian-language Films
The Goddess of Fortune: how the passage of time and random events change people and relationships
Ferzan Özpetek, “The Goddess of Fortune / La Dea Fortuna” (2019) On the surface, this very visually stunning and colourful film appears to be a heart-warming…
Australian and New Zealand Films
Nullarbor: laconic little road movie on the need to work together
Alister Lockhart, Patrick Sarell, “Nullarbor” (2011) Across the longest stretch of straight road through the flat desert that is the Nullarbor Plain in southern Australia is…
Retouch: a character study about struggle and sudden unexpected freedom
Kaveh Mazaheri, “Retouch” (2017) A stunning character study of a married woman, submissive to her bullying husband, who is unexpectedly given a new lease of life…
Fill Your Heart with French Fries: dark comedy about grief, social media celebrity and exploitation
Tamar Glezerman, “Fill Your Heart with French Fries” (2016) Based on an actual incident in China, in which a woman jilted by her boyfriend ended up…
Men in Black II: some good ideas go to waste in a cheap sequel
Barry Sonnenfeld, “Men in Black II” (2002) Five years after the events of the original “Men in Black”, at the end of which Agent K (Tommy…