A personal journal of film and documentary reviews, and reviews of anything else that intrigues me.
Latin American Films (Spanish language)
Guillermo del Toro, “Pan’s Labyrinth” (2006) This is an excellent film that successfully combines dark fantasy and horror with historical drama set in fascist-ruled Spain in…
Matt Reeves, “Let Me In”, Hammer Films / Overture Films (2010) Once upon a time about 25 years ago in a small town somewhere in Reagan-era America, there was…
Roman Polanski, “Rosemary’s Baby” (1968) Who doesn’t envy young couples these days who dream of having a nice 3-bedroom house or apartment in the city close to…
Tomas Alfredsson, “Let the Right One In” (2008) Often when a novel is translated to the screen, the result is a superficial imitation of the printed word:…
Vincenzo Natali, “Splice”, Dark Castle Entertainment (2010) Fans of former Oscar Best Actor winner Adrien Brody must be wondering how their man came to be slumming it…
German and German-language Films
Robert Wiene, “The Cabinet of Doctor Caligari” (1920) Seeing this German Expressionist silent film classic at the Australia’s Silent Film Festival showing in Sydney recently…
Tony Scott, “The Hunger” (1983) One of a number of 1980s-made movies in the remake production line, this glossy flick was Tony Scott’s directorial debut about…