The Promise: a slurpy romantic melodrama overshadows significant historic events
Terry George, “The Promise” (2016) A film about the Ottoman Turkish genocide of Armenians and other Christian minorities (1915 – 1918) is probably never going to…
Propaganda Films
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.
Memoirs of a Geisha: overblown rags-to-riches soap opera romance with a shallow and conservative message
Rob Marshall, “Memoirs of a Geisha” (2002) Essentially a variation on the Cinderella story through Western stereotypes about geisha and their role and function in Japanese…
Chinese and Chinese-language Films
Hero: a smug film that twists Chinese history and delivers a deplorable message
Zhang Yimou, “Hero” (2002) If one needs proof that a visually gorgeous film with a good cast can ultimately be undone and wasted by a demoralising…
Australian and New Zealand Films
The Coming War on China: a hard-hitting documentary drawing on the history of US relations with the western Pacific
John Pilger, “The Coming War on China” (2016) Two years in the making with literally a cast of thousands involved in crowd-funding it, Pilger’s “The Coming…
Australian and New Zealand Films
The Tracker: a desert Western study of European colonialism and exploitation and its effects
Rolf de Heer, “The Tracker” (2002) On the surface, a simple story of four men hunting a fugitive who has committed a crime, “The Tracker” is…
Torn Curtain: an unremarkable spy thriller film let down by poor casting and a laboured script
Alfred Hitchcock, “Torn Curtain” (1966) To properly appreciate how good a director Alfred Hitchcock was over a career of 50+ years, one needs to see the…
AntiRacist Hitler: a subversive cartoon satirising Western social policies and hypocrisy
Matt the White Rabbit, “AntiRacist Hitler” (2013) A subversive animation short satirising open-borders immigration policies and multiculturalist agendas in Western countries, most of which also hypocritically…
Battleship Potemkin: a classic of drama, passion and the power of people to overturn injustice and oppression
Sergei Eisenstein, “Battleship Potemkin” (1925) Although this film was made over 90 years ago and is a silent black-and-white work, it still stands up well against…
The Great Dictator: using comedy and drama, silent film and talking picture to confront fascism
Charles Chaplin, “The Great Dictator” (1940) It’s over-long and the slapstick comedy is laid on very thickly but film legend Charlie Chaplin’s “The Great Dictator” is…
Let Your Life Be A Friction To Stop The Machine: bare-bones film delivers a devastating alternative history of the United States and the West
“Let Your Life Be A Friction To Stop The Machine” (Class War Films, 2012) It’s a modestly made film – just a series of linked visual…