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.
Adam Curtis, “The Century of the Self (Episode 2: The Engineering of Consent)” (2002) This episode continues Curtis’s investigation of the ways in which Freudian psychoanalysis…
Jason Russell, “Kony 2012” (2012) Having heard about nothing else but this 30-minute feature going viral across Youtube and various social networking sites, I determined to…
Annabel Gillings, “Fukushima: Is Nuclear Power Safe?” (2011) Eminently likeable scientist-presenter Jim al-Khalili goes on a trip to Fukushima – the infamous site where three nuclear reactors suffered…
Mikhail Kalatozov, “The Cranes are Flying / Letyat zhuravli” (1957) A soulful film of hope and optimism amid the cruelties of war, this story of a…
French and French-language Films
Marie-Monique Robin, “The World According to Monsanto / Le Monde selon Monsanto” (2008) At issue in this informative documentary directed by the investigative journalist Marie-Monique Robin is…
Carl Urbano, “A is for Atom” (1952) Created and produced by John Sutherland and sponsored by General Electric, this promotional / education film is aimed at junior…
Adam Curtis, “It Felt Like A Kiss” (2009) A quirky visual montage of old newsreels and Hollywood films that documents a culturally transitional age in American…
Adam Curtis, “The Trap – What Happened to Our Dream of Freedom? (Episode 3: We will Force You to be Free)” (2007) Part of Adam Curtis’s “The Trap…
Phyllida Lloyd, “The Iron Lady” (2011) I steeled myself to watch this film; I had seen the trailer and it had filled me with fear. Donning…
Ruaridh Arrow, “How to Start a Revolution” (2011) Here’s an interesting one-hour documentary about Gene Sharp, a modest political science professor at the Massachusetts Institute of…