[e-mail] Reviews

Heart of a Lion (2013)

Love, Hate, and all the Mixed Emotions Between.

[10/10 · 13 November 2023]

It's an emotive subject; should the mother of a bi-racial kid entrust her son to a known white nationalist leader who she is attracted to, and who falls in love with her, and who promises to be good to her son? This complex and challenging story, which could so easily have fallen into stereotypical traps, such as being a lay-it-on-with-a-trowel preachy morass, or an unbelievable pile of schmaltz where an adorable, angelic child softens the hardest of all hearts, instead slowly and adroitly makes you see the frailties and humanity, and internal conflicts of all of the main characters. The beauty in this film comes from it showing the viewer the layers and complexities of human nature.

The Golden Dream (2013)

Why is it a dream?

[10/10 · 1 September 2022]

The Golden Dream (2013) is a thought-provoking treatise on what drives people towards becoming undocumented migrants. A small group of teenagers leave Guatemala, in search of a better life in the USA. Though inexperienced at this, they are aware of some of the dangers that go with what they are embarking upon, but what they are leaving behind makes them feel the risk is worth it. This film is lean and spare, and relies on the viewer being intelligent and observant. The information is all there, but it is not spoon-fed to the viewer. The acting is so good, however, that the viewer is totally absorbed by these three teenagers, who let you into their lives with a casual nonchalance, so you absorb the information osmotically. Anyone who feels that immigrants come looking for an easy life should watch this; it is almost newsreel footage.

The Inevitable Defeat of Mister & Pete (2013)

Can I have some privacy please?

[10/10 · 24 August 2022]

That is the refrain that Pete often gives Mister, and you think that he's just a quiet, reserved, boy, but when Pete decides to lift the veil of privacy, Mister finds out a lot more about him. Mister pretends to be a headstrong boy, with no patience for anyone, so when responsibility for Pete is thrust upon him, he has no patience for the quiet younger boy. With the two boys perfectly cast, and with Jennifer Hudson as Mister's mother, you have a film that holds no punches. Pete always tries to do the right thing, whereas, to Mister, anyone who isn't with him is an asshole, and Pete initially fits that category. With Pete's mother AWOL, and Mister's mother arrested, the two boys' journey really begins.

Just in Time (2021)

A modern RomCom with a great African twist.

[8/10 · 13 February 2022]

A modern, realistic RomCom, with the central trio perfectly cast (Stycie Waweru with that sullen, baleful teenager stare!). For a westerner like me, this film shows a side of Africa that contrasts to the media reports we see, and shows Kenya to be a vibrant, modern, country, with all the modern day concerns we all share. The trio of characters at the centre of the story are struggling to establish themselves in the ever changing world, with each trying to cling to the old order, instead of embracing the chance to build their new order themselves. As their understanding of the opportunities around them awakens, so do their hearts. This is a light look at life, that also manages to be accepting of differences, be they to do with ability, culture, etc.

I Am All Girls (2021)

Stylish Police Procedural/Film Noir.

[9/10 · 9 December 2021]

I Am All Girls (2021), is a stylish combination of film noir and police procedural, from South Africa. It appears to be a true story, about child trafficking, and political corruption, towards the end of the apartheid era, combined with a mopping up killing spree in modern day South Africa. The acting is powerful, heart-rending, and tender.

The African Doctor (2016)

Heart, Humour, Beauty, and a complete lack of spices!

[10/10 · 28 October 2021]

I just fell in love again..... with a film! Bienvenue a Marly is a memoir of Zairean family, who emigrated to France in the seventies, because the father gets a job as a village doctor. It is a comic drama, with a lot of heart, wonder, and beauty, in spite of the problems the family face in an unreformed area chez les ch't'is (in the sticks), in northern France. Uplifting and Joyous!

Where Eskimos Live (2002)

A Bombshell of a Movie

[10/10 · 1 August 2021]

This is a movie about the other aspects of war, and would not look out of place alongside of 'Soldier Blue' 'Welcome Home' or the TV series 'Anzacs'. Sharky (Bob Hoskins) poses as a Unicef worker in war-torn Bosnia, as a cover for his illegal activities. He convinces Vlado (Sergiusz Zymelka), a nine- year old bosnian orphan that he is there to take him to a better life abroad. This is a powerful story about the forgotten victims of war, and about the need to care.

Rocks (2019)

Life on the Rocks

[10/10 · 1 August 2021]

Rocks is a moving, poignant, film about a single parent family in London. These are believable characters in a situation that we hear about all too often in the papers. The mother has health issues, and so the teenaged daughter, Rocks, looks after her younger brother. This is realistic, contemporary, London, and I feel that Bukky Bakray (Rocks) is a genuinely talented actor, and a force to be reckoned with in the future. I immediately loved Rocks, and could feel her every emotion. Five out of five.

Turn Me On, Dammit! (2011)

A side-swipe at adolescence, and a reminder to us adults; very funny.

[10/10 · 7 February 2021]

This film is a beautifully acted, well-proportioned, and humorous, look at the trials of being teenage girl. As a guy, I never went through this myself, but have observed it many times, with sisters, friends, cousins, etc; to be reminded of this process by such an angst-filled, yet thought-provokingly funny piece, very useful, as it helps me to be there for the teenaged girls that are a part of my life now. We, as adults, often forget what our childhood and youth were like, and therefore lose our ability to relate to the young people we care about. Please watch this. Watch it with the teenaged girls and boys in your life, and use it to connect with them, and to open the conversation.

Holiday Heart (2000 TV Movie)

looking for a hit?

[10/10 · 27 September 2020]

Holiday Heart is a Hallmark Movie starring Ving Rhames as a Christian Drag Queen, who intervenes when a drug-addicted prostitute is being beaten by her pimp. He offers her and her 12 year old daughter (a bravura performance by Jessyka Quynn Reynolds) a safe place for a few days, and becomes inextricably entwined in their lives, loving the daughter as his own, and raising her. This movie addresses drug addiction and its effects on families, as well as the issues of homophobia, and self-acceptance, in a non-preachy manner. The subject matter is well handled, and is authentically presented.

A Girl at My Door (2014)

Social Policing

[10/10 · 23 September 2020]

When a young police inspector arrives in a small town, she looks every bit the fresh-faced idealistic young officer, but there is a troubled history behind the facade. Even as this perky young woman cycles spryly down country lanes and town roads, she is struggling with her demons. When she meets Do-Hee, a middle-school girl of around eleven years old, it sparks a relationship between her and the girl that will ultimately lead to a re-evaluation of morals. This is a well acted piece about dealing with personal demons, and social judgement.

Tirza (2010)

Spend time in the company of true beauty, and the terror of loss.

[10/10 · 14 July 2020]

A real Dutch Master, that wouldn't have worked without the Namibian girl, this film keeps you guessing. Jorgen, a recently forced to retire book editor, goes to Namibia, to search for his younger daughter, who has not been heard from for three weeks. This is a study of a middle aged Dutchman destroyed by life, and the little Namibian Shanty town girl who reaches out to him, touching his soul in a way that only she can. Gijs Scholten van Aschat is perfect as the deeply flawed and troubled Jorgen, who is grounded and loved by nine year old Kaisa, played breathtakingly, and flawlessly, by Keitumetse Matlabo. Matlabo is a true talent, apparently brand new to the screen.

Pommel (2018)

harrowingly, heartbreakingly beautiful.

[10/10 · 8 April 2020]

Pommel is a claustrophobic essay on the dangers of parental favouritism, parental pressure to achieve, and the attendant sibling rivalry. Beautifully acted by the two young leads, who were not actors (they are gymnasts), they offer a convincing portrayal of brotherhood in a difficult situation.

Maicol Jecson (2014)

This is it.

[10/10 · 26 March 2020]

A wonderful, intimate, film about boys behaving badly, this film follows Andrea, his little brother Tommi, and their grandfather Cesare, for a few weeks during a summer when the boys are supposed to be at camp, and their parents are away.. Beautifully acted by all, the misadventures of a carefree childhood, and second childhood, raise a warm glow here.

Tomorrow Will Be Better (2010)

Truth and guts.

[9/10 · 11 January 2020]

Tomorrow will be better (2011) is a strangely lighthearted film about three orphaned young brothers, trying to escape the Ukraine, for a better life in Poland. Its lightness serves to convey the innocence of the boys, and that the innocence has been preserved in spite of their lives and lifestyle. A true and disarming portrayal of humanity.

I Am Not a Witch (2017)

A disturbing indictment of society's justice.

[10/10 · 29 November 2019]

From a western point of view, this is a disturbing indictment of the way some will treat the least in society, because of groundless accusations, and of the ways others seek to exploit the least in society for profit. I do not pretend to understand Zambian spiritual traditions, but they are not at issue here; the issues here are people's readiness to mistrust, accuse, and abuse those who are unable to defend themselves.

Night Comes On (2018)

Loss and hope.

[10/10 · 30 October 2019]

A beautiful portrait of listlessness and the life of two sisters. The seventeen year old has just been released from prison, and is trying to find her feet in the world, but first she wants answers. The ten year old just wants her sister. When her older sister finds her in her foster home, she hopes that her life is back on track. Beautifully portrayed story of loss and being lost.

Cops Is Cops (1972)

Very stylised, somewhat romantic, crime comedy

[10/10 · 21 March 2019]

Inspector Campana (Michel Constantin), a driven, focussed single man, volunteers for an undercover assignment as a dead Mafia operative's brother, a family man. With his rentafamily (fake wife and nine-year old son) he travels to the South of France to attend the dead man's funeral, then infiltrate the dead man's world. The style of the film includes elements reminiscent of John Boorman's Point Blank, as well as referencing the classics of the French farce. The representation of family here is quite continental, and makes me think of great Czech comedies of the period, such as Setkani v Cervenci and Jak vytrhnout velrybe stolicku. Elements of the style of this film also show up in later British crime films, such as Wild Bill.

On Thin Ice (2013)

Magnus will steal your heart with his courage.

[10/10 · 14 March 2019]

11 year old Magnus is an up and coming Danish ice hockey player, whose popularity at school, and on the ice, together with his confident and affable manner, belie what is going on at home. This is an assured, accurate, depiction of what happens when one link in the family chain weakens. Once again, Thomas Norgreen Nielsen turns in a strong, powerful, performance as stoical Magnus, in this well written, well directed, short Danish drama.

Christiane F. (1981)

Hits hard enough to wind you

[10/10 · 6 September 2018]

This film is breathtaking in its approach to a complex set of circumstances that Christiane finds herself in, at the tender age of twelve. Disconnected from her poor quality neighbourhood and disparate family, in spite of her loving mother's best efforts, and feeling the tempestuous onset of adolescence, she reaches out to her seemingly more assured classmate, and the scene that she inhabits. It is Berlin, in the early 1980's and the scene is one of the heaviest club scenes in the world. There is a heady mix of drugs, hardcore music, and prostitution. Christiane falls in love with a slightly older boy. She is staying out all night at weekends. Someone offers her a pill, her hero, David Bowie, plays a concert, she collapses on her bathroom floor after injecting "H" (heroin), and her mother helps her and her boyfriend get clean. But it is not so easy to stay away. Aged just fourteen, she has become a prostitute, and it takes a tragedy for her to find the strength she needs.

Bølle Bob - Alle tiders helt (2010)

A riotous romp through school!

[9/10 · 10 August 2018]

As much a film for adults looking to relive the best bits of their own childhoods, as for children today, Bølle Bob - Alle tiders helt has it all. Set in a small-town Danish Middle School, there are all the elements of the best bits of childhood; it has adventure, fun, danger, tenderness, comedy, and spirit. With music. Lilleby school is a small school, filled with characters, who don't always get along, and it is due to be closed by a corrupt Mayor and equally corrupt Headteacher, who think it will be easy. They don't count on the disparate characters of the student body and faculty being pulled together, and galvanised into action by a very intelligent, very charming, twelve-year old psychopath (aren't all twelve year-old psychopaths like that? I know my friend was!), called Bølle Bob, who decides to prove that he cares, by doing the right thing for once! Peopled by believable characters, this is a charming, riotous, hilarious, musical romp through everyone's schooldays.

I Love Miami (2006)

Concisely cuban-american

[10/10 · 5 August 2018]

For an outsider like me, this film is a top-notch concise explanation of the cuban-american condition. It tells of the feeling of displacement of a people forced to leave their beloved mother country, because life became too dangerous or unbearable there. It tells also of the community culture that grows up amongst these people, complete with the hope of some, that their homeland will change, and become free, and the angst of others that this hope will hold the community back in their new homeland, There is also a theme of personal responsibility running through this film as strongly as the Miami river runs through the eponymous city. The acting is first rate, with swiftly drawn, but accurately and tenderly delivered characters. The film touches on the politics of being cuban-american, but concentrates on the depth of humanity of the people it depicts.

Don't Tell Papa (2004)

Simply put, this is life.

[10/10 · 1 August 2018]

Essentially, this is a film about the relationship between a father and his eight year old son, played admirably by Woong In-Jeong, and Yoo Seung-Ho, respectively. High school student Woong In-Jeong has a brief relationship with another High school student, which results, a year later, in a baby being delivered to Woong In-Jeong's classroom. Woong is left with no choice but to get a job, to support the child. Eight years or so pass, and we return to see that Woong, although still quite immature, loves his son very much, and shares all aspects of his life with him. The problem is, Woong lacks confidence in himself, and over-compensates by being his son's best friend. This leads to the roles sometimes being reversed, with the boy being the parent. This is a tender, beautiful, laugh-out-loud drama, of a type that simply has to be categorised as "Life". There is no melodrama here; the story is conveyed through the sheer quality of the acting and backstage craft of those involved, especially Yoo Seung-Ho.

The Pasta Detectives (2014)

A quirky, fun, family film.

[9/10 · 7 July 2018]

A quirky, fun family film about two boys who crack a kidnapping case. Well acted by all concerned, and presented very much in the european tradition, where the characters aren't sanitized, or made "cutesie", this film has Rico, a boy of about ten years old, with his hang-ups and issues, running into Oskar, also about ten years old, with his hang-ups and issues. After arguing, the boys become friends, and realise that they need each other, as the two dysfunctional boys become functional only when together. Rico, well-loved by all in his neighbourhood, is not very "with it", and, due to being in a world of his own, is sometimes a bit slow on the uptake. Oskar, not so well loved, because of his directness and perceived spikiness, is on the ball, but difficult for most people to handle, because of his neuroses. An observant person, which Rico, oddly, is, would notice that these two boys have OCDs, and this film represents OCD in a fair, balanced, approachable, way, and the two boys, who are both fine young actors, handle their roles with aplomb. But, above all, this film has it all: the meaty storylines and quirks that children want, and the classic cars, romance, and fart jokes that the adults like.

Six-String Samurai (1998)

String 'em High!

[10/10 · 10 June 2018]

A very tongue in cheek send up of all those dystopian action adventure thrillers of the seventies, eighties, and nineties, Six-String Samurai is also very self-effacing, but stylish. The story is a combination of a road-trip, Mad Max beyond thunderdome, and a fight to the death for wannabe RocknRollers, with a most unusual father-son dynamic thrown in. Jeffrey Falcon and Justin McGuire (as Justin McQuire) are amazing together, which is just as well, as they're on screen together for all but a few scenes, and the success of this film depended entirely on their working well together on screen. If you enjoyed the tone of "Some Guy Who Kills People", or the australian classic schlock comedy "Body Melt", then this is definitely for you.