A personal journal of film and documentary reviews, and reviews of anything else that intrigues me.
Hyunsuk Kim, “Pinki” (2018) Initially looking like a Korean mash-up of Neil Blomkamp’s “District 9” and “Chappie” with The Transformers film series and Joonho Bong’s “The…
Mark Slutsky, “Final Offer” (2018) The premise is the height of implausibility but great acting from Aaron Abrams and Anna Hopkins as protagonist and antagonist lawyers…
Deepak Chetty, “Hard Reset” (2016) The premise and the plot are predictable and rather tired, as are also the “Blade Runner” urban setting and that film’s…
Sophia Banks, “Unregistered” (2018) This short film commenting on the treatment of undocumented immigrants in the United States during Donald Trump’s presidency (2017 – 2021) has…
Chinese and Chinese-language Films, Spanish Films
Alejandro Suarez Lozano, “The Fisherman” (2015) A cleverly made and succinct little SF horror film set in Hong Kong, “The Fisherman” combines a character study that…
William Hellmuth, “Alone” (2020) A moving film about connection – and about how so strong humans’ need for connection can be that some individuals will travel…
Jesse Mittelstadt, “Flyby” (2019) In its own way this film can be considered a horror film, focusing as it does on how an alien force seems…
Magali Barbe, “This Time Away” (2019) A very heartwarming little film, succinct and taut in its telling, yet filled with tenderness and depth, this character study…
Australian and New Zealand Films
Luke Sparke, “Occupation: Rainfall” (2020) Here’s a brisk and flashy science fiction action film done on a small budget with plenty of Australian bravado and no…
Andrey Klimov, “Azarkant” (2013) Made as a proof-of-concept piece for a film, “Azarkant” understandably is short on plot and character to the extent that it plays…