Film Reviews Blog

This page only shows films that have a review. By default in date order of reading with newest at top

Saturday 17th April 2021

UK 2020

Running time: 127 mins

Mangrove

Small Axe pt.1

Director : Steve McQueen

Film Summary :
True story of the trials of the Mangrove Cafe in Notting Hill and Frank Crichlow & the Mangrove Nine.

Reviewed by Roger CO, DVD proj @ home on 17 Apr 2021

Review Summary :
Institutionalised racism creates strong community, which can prevail

The battle was won, but the war rages on.

Scenes in Notting Hill were wonderful, but the trial went on a bit - as it did in real life, and as it had to in order to be true to hat actually happened.

A salutary reminder that the institutionalised racism that created the Windrush scandal recently has strong and deep roots, and at the same time the power and dignity of community can sometimes break down the barriers.




Monday 12th April 2021

Palestine 2012

Running time: 93 mins

A World Not Ours

Director : Mahdi Fleifel

Film Summary :
Growing up and life in a Palestinian refugee camp in Lebanon (Ein el-Helweh)
Film Category
Film Tags

Reviewed by rogerco, Streamed proj @ home on 12 Apr 2021

Review Summary :
Anyone who claims Israel is not an apartheid state is an idiot

Seventy Years of Oppression

How can this life be allowed to be? Using footage shot over many years the story of an expat refugee (what a concept - someone whose homeland is a refugee camp!) and his friends back home in the camp in Lebanon again, as with other recently seen films, underlines the human power of community and family and the destructive force of imposed authority.

All hierarchies are ultimately toxic - e need to find a better form of social organisation here value comes neither from possession nor from oppression.




Sunday 4th April 2021

USA 2018

Running time: 139 mins

Under the Silver Lake

Film Summary :
Described as neo-noir and acid
Film Category
Film Tags

Reviewed by rogerco, Streamed proj @ home on 04 Apr 2021

Review Summary :
Pretty much a load of tosh

This gives noir thrillers a bad name

You thought the 1973 Long Goodbye was about as bad as noir could get, but this trumps it in spades. Apart from being overlong (we did give up 40 mins before the end hen it seemed to have been going on for ever, and then finished it the next night where it just got very silly as all was explained), there were no likeable characters (well actually no characters at all - just cardboard cutouts, no drama, no content - just a selection of pretty images of silly young people.

Why two stars and not one? well there was the germ of a plot there and at times it was good to look at.




Monday 22nd March 2021

France 2015

Running time: 118 mins

Demain

Reviewed by rogerco, DVD proj @ home on 22 Mar 2021

Review Summary :
It used to be possible to believe a better world was achievable - but is it?

Inspirational, but 6 years old

Much better than I was expecting - well organised and interesting content strung together in 5 chapters leading to the conclusion another world is possible, and the first green shoots of that new world already exist.

Many documentaries dealing with this broad subject (ecological and climate emergency response) are either overly preachy and focused on one aspect of the problems, or simply onanistic filmmaking exercises that are ultimately part of the problem.

This one however manages to tread that delicate line between the two and provides some new (for 2014) insights

But that now (2021) begs the question what has happened since 2014 when it was being shot. Those first green shoots are still around, albeit in desperate need of watering and feeding, but everything bad has got worse - much worse. Why?

It used to be possible to believe a better world was achievable - but is it still? This might lead you down the path of concluding that physical destruction of infrastructure is now a necessary step.




Saturday 20th March 2021

UK 2019

Rocks

Director : Sarah Gavron

Reviewed by rogerco, Streamed proj @ home on 20 Mar 2021

Review Summary :
Teenage girl having to cope with life near the bottom

Another troubled child story

Occasionally hard to understand what the girls are saying - partly the veritie style and partly the modern youth-speak - but the story is clear enough and the lead character easy to like and feel you understand.

Ending nicely ambiguous - I think she did let her brother go.