A personal journal of film and documentary reviews, and reviews of anything else that intrigues me.
James Corbett, “The Corbett Report (Episode 347: The WWI Conspiracy – Part One: To Start A War)” (November 2018) At this time of writing, a century…
Dan Cohen, “The Syria Deception (Part 1: Al Qaeda Goes to Hollywood)” (2018) This first part of a two-part series is a blunt and uncompromising examination…
Australian and New Zealand Films
Benjamin Gilmour, “Jirga” (2018) The wonder is that this film got made at all as it was filmed in Afghanistan, and in areas possibly still dominated…
Samuel Maoz, “Foxtrot” (2017) Divided into three parts, with the first and third parts dominated by the same actors and sharing the same setting (an apartment),…
Eastern European Films, German and German-language Films
Nick Baker-Monteys, “The Final Journey / Leanders Letzte Reise” (2017) The plot may be a familiar one – aged pensioner Eduard Leander (Jurgen Prochnow), recently widowed,…
Middle Eastern Films, North American Films
“The Jimmy Dore Show: Interview with Carla Ortiz” (23 April, 2018) A most unexpected surprise from what I would have considered the least likely medium surfaced…
“Imperialism on Trial – Eva Bartlett” (London, 31 January 2018) Canadian journalist Eva Bartlett was invited to speak at an anti-war protest meeting in London about…
Roman Polanski, “The Pianist” (2002) Polanski has been a very significant director capable of making very moving and epic films with a strong message about the…
North American Films, Southeast Asian Films
Phillip Noyce, “The Quiet American” (2002) A beautifully made film with much atmosphere, even if it is slow and unassuming in style, and its acting uneven,…
Erik Poppe, “Kongens Nei / The King’s Choice” (2016) As a straight history lesson or even as a conventional war-time drama, this film doesn’t succeed: audiences…