Posted on May 7th, 2012 by Zettel Film Reviewer
Tweet Marley – Kevin Mcdonald Kierkegaard wrote: “Purity of heart is to will one thing.” Again: “Be that self one truly is.” And: “During the first period of a man’s life the greatest danger is not to take the risk.” Having fathered 11 children from 7 different women Robert Nesta Marley, in his […]
Filed under: 4 stars, Documentary, General, Kevin Macdonald | No Comments »
Posted on June 15th, 2011 by Zettel Film Reviewer
Tweet Senna – Asif Kapadia A moving homage to one of the greats of Formula One. Nominated as one of the greatest racing drivers of all time by the most discerning judges, his fellow drivers, Ayrton Senna da Silva was 3-times World champion in 1988, 1990, 1991. His death in the San Marino Grand Prix […]
Filed under: 3 star, Documentary, General | No Comments »
Posted on May 15th, 2011 by Zettel Film Reviewer
Tweet Oranges and Sunshine – Jim Loach Hypocrisy is the besetting vice of the English. Many of our greatest writers, like George Eliot and Dickens knew this and created some of the squirmyest hypocrites in fiction: from the Rev Edward Casaubon and Nicholas Bulstrode in Middlemarch to David Copperfield’s Uriah Heep. Fans of Austen could […]
Filed under: 3 star, Documentary, Drama, Extended essay, Film Essay, Historical, Jim Loach, Philosophical, Political | No Comments »
Posted on March 14th, 2011 by Zettel Film Reviewer
Tweet Inside Job – Charles Ferguson (Oscar 2011) Angry at Bankers? See this devastating, meticulously researched Oscar winner for best documentary feature 2011 and find out why you, we, are not angry enough. By a long chalk. ‘Heads we win – tails, you pay’ – the Bankers’ motto. Inside Job is no Michael Moore polemic. […]
Filed under: 4 stars, Documentary, Journalism, Oscar Winner, Philosophical | No Comments »
Posted on October 18th, 2008 by Zettel Film Reviewer
Tweet The Motorcycle Diaries – Walter Salles Friendship, self-awakening, and indignation at injustice, are at the heart of this empathic and deeply felt film. The real journey through fifties South America of Ernesto, later ‘Che’, Guevara and his friend Alberto Grenado is engaging, funny, moving and redolent of a rare sense of humanity. The film […]
Filed under: 4 stars, Documentary, Drama, Europe/World cinema, General, Political, Walter Salles | No Comments »
Posted on September 25th, 2008 by Zettel Film Reviewer
Tweet March of The Penguins – Luc Jacquet Peerless cinematography (Laurent Chalet, Jerome Maison) and impeccable, sensitive editing (Sabine Emiliani) make this a shoe-in for a documentary Oscar. Every camera shot, every note of Alex Wurman’s lyrical score, breathes a sense of respect for these extraordinary, impossibly endearing creatures. So it is disturbing to read […]
Filed under: 3 star, Documentary, General, Hollywood, Luc Jacquet, Oscar Winner, Philosophical | No Comments »
Posted on September 25th, 2008 by Zettel Film Reviewer
Tweet The Pervert’s Guide to Cinema – Sophie Fiennes Great film. Dumb title. This is a tour de force of intellectual passion and sheer irrepressible enthusiasm displayed by Slavoj Žižek’s, Slovenian psychoanalyst, sociologist and philosopher. Žižek applies his psychoanalytic concepts to the interpretation of cinema as a serious and cathartic art form. His obvious love […]
Filed under: 4 stars, Documentary, Europe/World cinema, General, Philosophical, Sophie Fiennes | No Comments »
Posted on September 13th, 2008 by Zettel Film Reviewer
Tweet United 93 – Paul Greengrass If this film sets the tone for the many 9/11 related films in the pipeline it will have served a useful purpose. Though necessarily conjectural in detail, in broad terms it tries to tell the nightmare story whose tragic ending we all know, without embellishment. Claustrophobic cinematography, an atmospheric […]
Filed under: 3 star, Action, Documentary, Drama, General, Hollywood, Paul Greengrass, Political | No Comments »
Posted on September 7th, 2008 by Zettel Film Reviewer
Tweet I’m Not There – Todd Haynes It may depend when you joined the train. Bob Dylan and I are the same age. When we hit our teens in 1954/5 young people all around the world started boarding the music trains, leaving home for ever. We left our parents standing on the platforms shaking their […]
Filed under: 4 stars, Documentary, Drama, General, Hollywood, Musical, Philosophical, Political, Todd Haynes | No Comments »
Posted on August 27th, 2008 by Zettel Film Reviewer
Tweet The Fog of War – Director Errol Morris In Fog Of War ex-US Secretary of State Robert MacNamara, is given enough rope by Director Morris to almost hang himself. Once one of the most hated men in America for his central political role in the Vietnam War, MacNamara graces us with 11 ‘lessons’ or […]
Filed under: 4 stars, Documentary, Errol Morris, General, Philosophical, Uncategorized | No Comments »