The Man with the Golden Gun: surface glamour obscuring an interesting plot and themes
Guy Hamilton, “The Man with the Golden Gun” (1974) Mainly memorable for the scene in which the stunt people managed to get a red coupe sports…
Hollywood Films
On Her Majesty’s Secret Service: a surprising sleeper film that packs a punch
Peter R Hunt, “On Her Majesty’s Secret Service” (1969) Fifty years after its cinematic release, this James Bond film may look dated but its plot and…
The Professor and the Madman: a deeply emotional film about obsession, suffering, forgiveness and redemption
Farhad Safinia (P B Shemran), “The Professor and the Madman” (2019) Adapted from the novel “The Surgeon of Crowthorne: A Tale of Murder, Madness and the…
Nano: hard-boiled pulp fiction ho-hum plot with an unusual premise
Mike Manning, “Nano” (2017) This short film has the look and feel of a proof-of-concept work itching to be made into a full-length feature film or…
The Replacement: an inquiry into the nature-versus-nurture dilemma
Sean Miller, “The Replacement” (2018) What starts out as an investigation of the consequences of cloning in this sci-fi comedy short turns out almost to be…
Nine Minutes: choosing how to die as your oxygen gives out
Ernie Gilbert, “Nine Minutes” (2017) What if you suddenly discovered that you only had nine minutes left to live? How would you spend that time? This…
Plurality: a film of techno-dystopia in New York
Dennis Liu, “Plurality” (2012) A competent little short that looks very much like a proof-of-concept work for a longer feature film, “Plurality” plays like a conventional…
British Films, North American Films
Zero: teenage survivalist making a critical decision about her future
Keith and David Lynch, “Zero” (2019) In a post-apocalyptic world, when robots and humans have fought each other almost to the death in a long drawn-out…
ChromoPHOBIA: a message about how we treat (or don’t treat) mental illness well
Keith Adams, “ChromoPHOBIA” (2019) Based on a short story by B Evenson, this dark horror fiction short focuses on mental illness and its treatment, and unconscious…
Bombshell: film on sexual harassment bombs out for its superficiality
Jay Roach, “Bombshell” (2019) The plot is very basic enough: a female television personality employee at Fox News is sacked by the big boss for questionable…