Film
Blu-Ray Review: Giants and Toys
The Allied occupation of Japan ended in 1952 and much of this period was devoted to rebuilding lost industrial capacity and moving towards a democratic society. Whilst poverty was still rife, the period of depression and despair which followed defeat had begun to turn into opportunity. Americanisation was rife and most trends originated from the …
Film Review: Paper Spiders
Mental health, or the lack of it, was probably the biggest challenge facing health authorities across the First World even before the pandemic hit. The issue has become even more pressing given the number of lockdowns, job losses and bereavements suffered over the last year across the globe. However, portrayals of mental illness on the …
Film Review: Betrayed
While every country which was occupied by the Nazis during World War II collaborated and accepted German authority to differing extents, not many (if any) came out of looking particularly good. Much of this has been lost, or more likely buried, in history. Norway is no exception. The Wehrmacht arrived in April 1940 and left …
Film Review: Cowboys
Whilst much of today’s dialogue around trans rights is toxic and couched in the homophobic rhetoric of the 1970s and 1980s, slowly but surely more and more people seem to understand that not everyone is born into and stays in a specific biological sex. The path to acceptance is a slow and painful one, for …
Film Review: Apples
Hot on the heels of the 2008 financial crisis and spearheaded by Yorgos Lanthimos’s Dogtooth, the Greek ‘weird wave’ has been one of the more unlikely cinematic movements of the 21st century. Whilst the Athenian has been its most successful cog in the new wave, he is by no means alone. Athina Rachel Tsangari’s Attenburg …
Film Review: Charlatan
Whilst never receiving the credit she undoubtedly deserves Agnieszka Holland has enjoyed a long and illustrious career. Born shortly after the end of World War II, she began her career as an assistant director to two of the Polish greats; Krzysztof Zanussi and Andrzej Wajda. Holland has made a number of films spanning five decades, …
Film Review: 15 Things You Didn’t Know About Bigfoot
Throughout history the world has been full of mythical and legendary creatures. Whilst most have been widely debunked by science and technology, there are some which still remain popular amongst certain groups. The Sasquatch, or Bigfoot to his/her friends, is an ape-like creature which makes its home in the forests of North American. Like the …
Film Review: Beast Beast
Whilst Millennials regularly come in for a proverbial good kicking when any vaguely young person does something stupid, Gen-Z are probably suffering the most at the moment. What with COVID and related school, college and university closures, a global recession and high unemployment, it must be a terribly difficult time to be young. It’s easy …
Hot Docs Review: The Spokeswoman
Around twenty-five million Mexicans self-identify as being indigenous, that’s something like twenty percent of the population. And though it’s taken several centuries to recover, the numbers are roughly what they were when the Spanish first set foot in the country. Under the constitution, aboriginal citizens are (theoretically) entitled to self-determination, but in practice their rights …
CPH:DOX Review: Children of the Enemy
One of the biggest talking points and political challenges created for European governments by daesh and their attempt to make a caliphate is what to do with those citizens who travelled to Syria (and other countries) to join the group. Whilst the easy option, and one taken by many governments, is simply to strip that …