The Intrigue might almost have been the pattern used for most of the science fiction films made during the silent era. Certainly it is one of the oldest science fiction features — a full two years before Himmelskibet, and only a decade after the release of the very first feature film, at a time when […]
Read more "The Intrigue (1916)"Once in a while a film comes along which reminds us that science fiction doesn’t need to be stuck in the same old all too familiar mold, but can, with a bit of imagination, give us something surprising and different. As unlikely as that may sound. Freaky Faron definitely falls in this category. After five […]
Read more "Freaky Faron (2006)"I suppose the Eighties were the decade of the celebrity director. At the time any new young director who made a movie that sent the film critics into loud hosannas of praise could be declared one of the future cinematic masters of the universe. Not that it worked out all that well for most of […]
Read more "Making Mr. Right (1987)"I had a rather interesting moment while I was watching this one: You have to remember that not only was Yasutaka Tsutsui’s novel, Toki o kakeru shôjo, remarkably popular, but it has been adapted to the screen quite a few times. Yasutaka Tsutsui was one of the most popular writers in Japan at the time, […]
Read more "Toki o kakeru shôjo [The Little Girl Who Conquered Time] (1983)"This is one of the most fondly remembered BBC TV movies in their long and varied history. And I feel like a bit of a grinch because I just don’t share the enthusiasm that it has generated. Somewhere in in the more perfect future of 2130, after a devastating catastrophe that no one quite understands, […]
Read more "The Flipside of Dominick Hide [Play for Today: The Flipside of Dominick Hide] (1980)"Things have fallen apart. There was the war and other catastrophes, but the real problem is that everyone just lost interest in living. Only a few children have been born since the war, the population has fallen catastrophically. The world is dying. Everyone clings to the last shreds of the old world: a record album, […]
Read more "Crumbs (2015)"Now there’s one thing we need to get straight right away: The words “Indie Comedy” don’t mean what you think they do. In a market full of grim and very serious films, anything that raises a chuckle or two is a “comedy.” In fact, for the average viewer, the most common reaction to a movie […]
Read more "Leon muss sterben [Leon Must Die] (2017)"Firestarter as a romantic comedy? Well, yes, more or less. Although it is as much about the relationship between two feuding brothers as it is about the romantic triangle that kindles (sorry, you can’t help it with this sort of film) their long-smoldering (see what I mean?) resentment against each other. And I suppose it does […]
Read more "Wilder Napalm (1993)"I like this one, even if it isn’t a great film. Like a lot of recent Anime films, I would describe this one as Miyazaki-lite: not only does it have a decidedly familiar color palette, and character designs which would easily fit into most of Miyazaki’s films, but it also features such trademark elements as […]
Read more "To aru hikuushi e no tsuioku [The Princess and the Pilot] (2011)"“I’d still like to grab coffee or something, sometime. Because I think you’re the most attractive person I’ve ever seen. But that doesn’t outweigh that you might be a mental patient and I gotta make sure that you’re the kind of crazy I can deal with. “ This is a truly remarkable film. But then, […]
Read more "Spring (2014)"
rivets on the poster 