A personal journal of film and documentary reviews, and reviews of anything else that intrigues me.
Hiroyuki Yamaga, “Royal Space Force – the Wings of Honnêamise / Ôritsu uchûgun Oneamisu no tsubasa” (1987) A very visually handsome and often stunning film to…
Katsuhiro Otomo, “Steamboy / Suchimoboi” (2004) A decade in the making, Katsuhiro Otomo’s second full-length film is an epic cyberpunk fantasy that carries a message about…
Hayao Miyazaki, “Laputa, Castle in the Sky / Tenko no shiro Ryaputa” (1986) One of Studio Ghibli’s great joys, this film has everything you could possibly…
Hayao Miyazaki, “Nausicaä of the Valley of the Wind / Kaze no tani no Naushika” (1984) Based on his own manga of the same name, Miyazaki’s…
Pablo Berger, “Blancanieves” (2012) In the style of old 1920s expressionist silent films, Berger’s “Blancanieves” is a witty, layered and lavish Gothic retelling of the fairy-tale…
Eastern European Films, North American Films
Joshua Marston, “The Forgiveness of Blood / Falja e Gjakut” (2010) Hard to believe that even in Europe there are societies where the very new and…
Makoto Shinkai, “Garden of Words / Koto no ha no niwa” (2013) Makoto Shinkai is a new name to me and he has been billed as…
Alfred Hitchcock, “Shadow of a Doubt” (1942) A dark film that explores the potential for violence beneath the patina of an apparently happy family, “Shadow of…
Australian and New Zealand Films
Daniel Nettheim, “The Hunter” (2011) Based on the novel by Julia Leigh, “The Hunter” is both a mystery thriller and a journey of self-discovery and redemption…
Park Chanwook, “Stoker” (2013) Appropriately Chanwook Park’s Hollywood directing debut is a psychological thriller featuring an oddball protagonist who has lived a life of isolation for…