A personal journal of film and documentary reviews, and reviews of anything else that intrigues me.
Richard Rowley, “Dirty Wars” (2013) Part documentary, part personal testimony, this is a searing documentary following investigative journalist Jeremy Scahill across the Middle East and the…
Akira Kurosawa, “The Hidden Fortress” (1958) Inspiration for George Lucas’ “Star Wars: A New Hope”, the 1978 space-fantasy flick that spawned an industry, this unusual historical…
Trey Parker, “Team America: World Police” (2004) A silly and puerile satire on American society, culture, the nature of power and the celebration of style over…
Michael Curtiz, “Casablanca” (1942) One of Hollywood’s finest gems, “Casablanca” initially presents as a romantic drama in the middle of war. It’s 1942, France is ruled…
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…
German and German-language Films, North American Films
Ryan Nagata, “1945A” (2010) Carl Erik Rinsch, “The Gift” (2010) Kaleb Lechowski, “R-Ha” (2012) These films have a few things in common: they’re very short science…
Herman Axelbank and Max Eastman, “Tsar to Lenin” (1937) Presented by Mehring Books and the Socialist Equality Party, “Tsar to Lenin” is an incredible historical document…
Stanley Kubrick, “Dr. Strangelove or: How I learned to stop worrying and love the Bomb” (1964) Notable as the film that features British actor Peter Sellers…
David Keane, “The True Story of Black Hawk Down” (2003) A very detailed documentary about the events that led to the Battle of Mogadishu in 1993…