A personal journal of film and documentary reviews, and reviews of anything else that intrigues me.
Peter Greenaway, “The Cook, the Thief, his Wife and her Lover” (1989) Straight away viewers can tell there’s much more simmering away in this story about a…
Nagisa Oshima, “Ai no korida / In the Realm of the Senses” (1976) Forty years ago this film was made and it still has the power…
Noboru Iguchi, “Dead Sushi” (2012) In the tradition of wacky Japanese comedy horror flicks comes this little number that takes a bizarre concept (bloodthirsty monster sushi)…
Kenji Mizoguchi, “Ugetsu” (1953) Two interwined morality plays about peasants blinded by thoughts of personal fame and glory are the basis for an exploration of love,…
Stanley Kubrick, “The Shining” (1980) In most directors’ hands, a Stephen King horror novel of a family disintegrating under the impact of the husband / father’s…
Kaneto Shindo, “Onibaba” (1964) An old Japanese Buddhist tale of a woman who uses a mask to frighten her daughter from visiting a temple becomes in…
French and French-language Films
Frédéric Doazan, “Supervenus” (2013) This 3-minute debut effort for writer / director Frédéric Doazan is a devastatingly critical comment on modern standards of female beauty as they have…
Italian and Italian-language Films, North American Films
Ubaldo B Ragona and Sidney Salkow, “The Last Man on Earth” (1964) Over 50 years since it was made, this cheaply made horror film has clearly…
Dony Permedi, “Pony” (2006) “Pony” is a short animated film made by Permedi as an undergraduate college project with the subversions of everyday life and student…
Michael Armstrong, “The Image” (1967) Notable mainly for being singer and sometime actor David Bowie’ first film role, this 14-minute horror short is an eerie surrealist…