A personal journal of film and documentary reviews, and reviews of anything else that intrigues me.
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…
Kinji Fukasaku, “Battle Royale (Director’s Cut)” (2000) For all its extreme violence and other liberties it takes, for me this film reads like a satire of…
Ingmar Bergman, “Persona” (1966) A visually stunning film, shot in black and white film and using contrasts of lighting and landscape to illustrate its themes of…
Shane Carruth, “Upstream Color” (2012) Since making “Primer”, Shane Carruth’s career as film director and producer has definitely leapt ahead. There is still a rough-edged quality…
J Searle Dawley, “Frankenstein” (1910) Made by Edison Studios in 1910, this is the first adaptation of the famous Gothic horror novel by Mary Shelley onto…
Zofia Oraczewska, “The Banquet / Bankiet” (1976) Its style seems outdated for a short animation of its vintage but I believe this is still a much…
Marek Skrobecki, “Ichthys” (2005) For once I didn’t need to look up an English translation for the title of this Polish animation short which uses animated…
Andre de Toth, “House of Wax” (1953) “House of Wax” was the movie that established Vincent Price as a horror film icon and in itself is…
Eduardo Sanchez and Daniel Myrick, “The Blair Witch Project” (1998) About fifteen years after it was made and the hype surrounding it died down, this hokey…
Australian and New Zealand Films, British Films
Janice Sutherland, “Murdoch (Part 2)” (2013) As I suspected, the second half of this series turns out to be a damp squib: it’s basically a rundown…