documentary
Eleven Days in May review – children pay the price of warSunday, 08 May 2022![]() In another flare-up of Pyrrhic Hamas missiles and punitive Israeli bombing one year ago, over 60 Gazan children were killed. Michael Winterbottom and his Palestinian co-director Mohammad Sawwaf made Eleven Days in May as a “simple memorial to the... Read more... |
Barry & Joan review - quirky documentary about two vaudevilliansFriday, 06 May 2022![]() If the state of the world is a little too bleak for you right now, do yourself a favour and watch this utterly charming documentary about Barry and Joan Grantham, a couple who have been married and performing together for several decades (Audrey... Read more... |
Ennio review - sprawling biog of the maestro of movie musicThursday, 21 April 2022![]() Ennio Morricone’s collaboration with director Giuseppe Tornatore on 1988’s Cinema Paradiso was one of the countless highlights of his career, and it’s Tornatore who has masterminded this sprawling documentary tribute to the composer, who died in... Read more... |
The Wall of Shadows review - a holy Himalayan mountain and a Sherpa family's dilemmaThursday, 21 April 2022![]() “You’re mad to try and climb a holy mountain,” says Jomdoe, wife of Sherpa Ngada, as they argue over whether it’s more important to respect the body of God, aka the mountain Kumbhakarna in eastern Nepal, or to take the money earned from a dangerous... Read more... |
Thatcher & Reagan: A Very Special Relationship, BBC Two review - when the Iron Lady met the Cowboy PresidentMonday, 04 April 2022![]() This two-part documentary about how the Eighties were partly shaped by the British Prime Minister and the US President was obviously planned long before the Russians invaded Ukraine, but it’s a powerful illustration of how history doesn’t stop, but... Read more... |
The Tinderbox review – a call for peaceFriday, 25 March 2022![]() The beginning of the Israeli-Palestine conflict is officially dated to 7 June 1967, the occasion of the Israeli occupation of the West Bank, including East Jerusalem, during the Six-Day War, but its origins stretch back further.The Palestine War,... Read more... |
River review – gorgeous visuals and a timely message: so what’s not to like?Saturday, 19 March 2022![]() I would suggest watching River on the largest possible screen, so you can bask in the breathtaking beauty of the visuals. Directed by the Australian Jennifer Peedom, who won awards for Mountain and Sherpa, the documentary celebrates the magnificence... Read more... |
Drive to Survive, Season 4, Netflix review - bitter rivalries on and off the trackSaturday, 12 March 2022![]() Netflix’s fly-on-the-pitwall series has rapidly established itself as a vital ingredient in the tapestry of Formula One coverage, and is credited with giving the sport a huge boost in visibility and popularity, not least in the USA. This fourth... Read more... |
Shane, Amazon Prime review - the outsized life and times of cricket's King of SpinTuesday, 08 March 2022![]() Tragically, Shane Warne’s sudden death at age 52 means that Amazon’s new documentary about him has suddenly become an obituary as much as a celebration.Directed by John Carey, David Alrich and Jackie Munro, Shane does a solid job of tracing Warne’s... Read more... |
Rebel Dread review - generous documentary portrait of punk-reggae legend Don LettsThursday, 03 March 2022![]() Don Letts, the film director, musician and DJ responsible for so many of the iconic images of punk and reggae artists, executive produced this documentary portrait. The result is a warm and generous chronicle that occasionally veers on the... Read more... |
DVD/Blu-ray: SouthTuesday, 01 March 2022![]() There is little denying that the Antarctic continent is no longer possessed of the allure that it once was. By all accounts, particularly those unspoken, Antarctica has been betrayed, usurped, eclipsed.Beyond the sober walls of research laboratories... Read more... |
The Real Charlie Chaplin review - not as revealing as its title suggestsWednesday, 16 February 2022![]() Even today, Charlie Chaplin still earns glowing accolades from critics for his work during the formative years of cinema, though a contemporary viewing public saturated in CGI and superheroes might struggle to see the allure of his oeuvre as the “... Read more... |
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