A personal journal of film and documentary reviews, and reviews of anything else that intrigues me.
Films made with an obvious bias to serve a larger agenda or to mitigate a controversial topic and make it safe for general public consumption.
Australian and New Zealand Films, Southeast Asian Films
Bety Reis and Luigi Acquisto, “A Guerra da Beatriz / Beatriz’s War” (2013) A major first in the post-independence culture of Timor-Leste, “Beatriz’s War” is a…
Hayao Miyazaki, “The Wind Rises / Kaze tachinu” (2013) Miyazaki’s swansong film is a fictional biography of aeroplane designer and engineer Jiro Horikoshi, creator of the…
Rob Ager, “The War on Bugs” (2012) Researched, written, edited and narrated by Rob Ager, this documentary examines the themes of the science fiction film “Starship…
British Films, North American Films
Steve McQueen, “12 Years a Slave” (2013) British director Steve McQueen’s third film “12 Years a Slave” is a harrowing study of the institution of slavery…
Middle Eastern Films, Russian and Soviet Films
“The Syrian Diary” (Rossiya 24, 2013) Made for Russian television, this documentary follows Rossiya 24 reporter Anastasia Popova and a Syrian army unit she is attached…
Robert Greenwald, “Outfoxed: Rupert Murdoch’s War on Journalism” (2004) An impassioned documentary intended to rouse its mainly American audience to action, “Outfoxed …” exposes in considerable…
Will Yearsley, “Masters of Money (Episode 3:Marx)” (2012) The third and final episode of this rather so-so series on significant economist / philosophers who influenced 20th…
Leif Kaldor, “Remote Control War” (2011) “Remote Control War” presents as a sober documentary on the use of robotics in war, conflict and espionage in the…
Kathryn Bigelow, “Zero Dark Thirty” (2012) This film purports to document the hunt for World Public Enemy No 1, the Saudi national Osama bin Laden, and…
Ron Fricke, “Samsara” (2011) Fourth in a series of wordless visual documentaries by Ron Fricke (the previous films being “Chronos”, “Sacred Sites” and “Baraka”), “Samsara” is…